P21.7 million marijuana destroyed in Kalinga

MANILA, Philippines — Anti-narcotics agents uprooted and burned 97,500 marijuana plants valued at P21.7 million in Tinglayan, Kalinga yesterday.

The illegal drugs were discovered during a raid on marijuana plantations in Barangays Loccon and Ngibat, police Drug Enforcement Group director Brig. Gen. Randy Peralta said.

The cultivators of the marijuana plantations eluded arrest.

Peralta commended police operatives for their effort to eradicate marijuana plantations in the Cordilleras.

Meanwhile, in Sorsogon, barangay captain Frederick Cielo of Bacolod in Irosin was arrested in a drug bust in Barangay Dapdap in Bulusan town on Monday.

Police said Cielo yielded 27 grams of shabu valued at P183,600.

In Cotabato, two men who claimed to be members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were arrested for possession of illegal drugs and unlicensed firearms.

Naravy Duquiatan, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Soccsksargen director, said shabu worth P80,000 and two rifles were recovered from Mohar Talimbo, 34, and his father Jimmy, 62, in Barangay Dungguan in M’lang.

PDEA agents and personnel of the Cotabato police conducted the raid based on a search warrant after receiving reports that the suspects were involved in drug trafficking in M’lang and nearby towns.