Regional police forces have dismantled a massive illegal drug plantation, destroying an estimated P228 million worth of marijuana plants during a two-day sweep in Kalinga province.
The Police Regional Office Cordillera Administrative Region reported Monday that joint operatives discovered 1.14 million fully grown marijuana plants spanning 10 different sites on Mount Chumanchil in Barangay Loccong, Tinglayan covering a total of 9.5 hectares.
Police Brigadier General Ericson Dilag, PRO- CAR regional director said the eradication drew heavily on local and regional law enforcement resources, mobilizing provincial drug enforcement units, intelligence teams, multiple municipal police stations, and tactical mobile force battalions from both Kalinga and Mountain Province.
Police personnel uprooted and burned the entire plantation directly on-site as comprehensive investigation is still underway to identify and apprehend the individuals responsible for the large-scale cultivation.
After the raid, police also planting tree seedlings as commitment to both environmental restoration and community development, signaling a permanent government presence in the remote area.
Police Col. Ledon Monte, regional deputy director for operations meanwhile emphasized that the symbolic gesture was meant to show that law enforcement has taken full control of the previously lawless terrain adding that Mount Chumanchil belongs to the people of the Cordillera, and vowed that authorities would not allow illegal growers to compromise the future of the region’s youth. NL Monitor
