Temperature-controlled marijuana nursery found after lovers’ arrest

The potted ‘pot’ found inside an Antipolo City residence are grown with the help of insulation, lighting and cooling systems. —RAFFY LERMA

A 17-year-old girl and her boyfriend were arrested in a buy-bust operation in Marikina City on Friday afternoon and later led the police to a technically equipped “marijuana nursery” in Antipolo City.

The girl, a tourism student in an Antipolo-based school, and her 18-year-old boyfriend, who resides in Concepcion Uno, Marikina, allegedly concealed about 500 grams of dried marijuana leaves in a pouch meant for french fries and sold it for P500 to a poseur buyer, according to Marikina police chief Senior Supt. Lorenzo Holanday.

The entrapment operation was conducted inside a fast-food outlet along Bayanbayanan Avenue, Concepcion Uno, with PO1 Lara Fornal acting as the buyer.

According to Holanday, the girl said she resorted to selling marijuana to “save up for her upcoming debut party” this December. The boyfriend, meanwhile, was known as a longtime drug user, the official added.

Later on Friday night, information provided by the arrested couple led to the arrest of Cresanto Dumancas, their alleged source of marijuana, at a cafe along Lilac Street in Concepcion Dos.

Before the arrest, another poseur buyer tricked Dumancas into showing the marijuana nursery he was keeping inside his rented house on Dama de Noche Street, Greenheights, New Town, Barangay Mayamot, Antipolo.

Dumancas was found growing marijuana in five pots kept inside two closets that were equipped with insulation, lighting and cooling systems, complete with a thermometer, Holanday said.