OVER P500 million worth of marijuana plants and products were seized and three plantation personnel were arrested by authorities during a recent anti-narcotics operations in Kalinga and Benguet, PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos said yesterday.
Citing a report from Cordillera Administrative Region police director Brig. Gen. Ronald Oliver Lee last Saturday, Carlos said the seizure was made during the last 10 days of operations mounted under Oplan Herodotus 2.
The anti-drug operations were jointly conducted by personnel from the PNP, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, NBI, AFP and the Philippine Coast Guard in the mountainous areas of Kalinga and Benguet.
Carlos said 70 marijuana plantations were raided during the period, leading to the seizure and subsequent destruction of marijuana plants and products with a street value of P427.94 million in Kalinga and P59.39 million in Benguet.
Three men were arrested, two of them identified as Langao and Peter, both surnamed Bagtang, ages 22 and 70, respectively. Police did not identify the third suspect, a 17-year-old male.
In Lubuagan town in Kalinga, police arrested suspected drug pusher Aldren Paul Cabanes Pacion, 27, and Jaymor Sacatani Eusebio, 31, at a checkpoint for possession of P13.56 million worth of marijuana bricks.
Two more alleged drug pushers, Limuel Legaspi Alarde, 21 and Ralf King Gaffud Prado, 18, were also arrested at another checkpoint in Tabuk City, also in Kalinga. The two yielded P1.21 million worth of marijuana bricks.
