ANOTHER P20.21 million worth of marijuana plants and seedlings were eradicated in the provinces of Benguet and Kalinga during the weeklong Simultaneous Anti-Criminality and Law Enforcement Operations (SACLEO) of the Police Regional Office Cordillera (ProCor) in a relentless drive to rid the mountains of illegal drugs.
On September 23, 300 seedlings of marijuana plants worth P12,000 were uprooted in Sitio Bacbacan, Barangay Poblacion, Kibungan, Benguet.
The following day, 1,000 fully grown marijuana plants worth P200,000 were also destroyed in Balbalnag, Barangay Badeo, Kibungan, Benguet.
In Kayapa, Bakun, Benguet, 325 fully grown marijuana plants worth P65,000 were uprooted on September 26, while 170 fully grown marijuana plants worth P34,000 were destroyed the following day.
The operations in the Province of Benguet yielded a total Dangerous Drug Board (DDB) value of P311,000.
The Kalinga police, with members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), destroyed 80,000 fully grown marijuana plants and 30 kilos of dried marijuana leaves with a total worth of P19.9 million.
In Barangay Babanoy, Tanudan, 3,000 fully grown marijuana plants worth P600,000 were ruined on September 23, while 77,000 fully grown marijuana plants and 30 kilos of dried marijuana leaves worth P19.3 million were also uprooted during the three-day operation in Barangays Bugnay and Tulgao West, Tinglayan.
No cultivators were arrested while marijuana plants were burned onsite.
In Bontoc, Mountain Province, two bricks of marijuana hashish covered with milled coffee was left by the sender after he saw JRS personnel opening the box for checking before its planned delivery on September 25 at the shipping office.