Police, Army destroy 3-ha marijuana farm in Lanao del Sur town

DESTROYED. Part of the marijuana plants uprooted in Maguing, Lanao del Sur are set ablaze by government forces. (Photo from Lanao del Sur PNP)

CAMP SK PENDATUN, Maguindanao – Acting on a tip from civilians, police authorities, backed by military troops, seized firearms and destroyed marijuana plants with an estimated value of more than P12 million in Maguing, Lanao del Sur on Thursday.

Colonel Jibin Boncayao, Lanao del Sur police director, said the marijuana plantation was located on a 3-hectare farm in Barangay Bato-Bato, hidden among tall grass and trees.

When they arrived at the place, operatives found five assault rifles left inside a shanty near the plantation. The shanty could be an observation point of plantation caretakers or cultivators, said Boncayao.

“We believed the cultivators and their security personnel noticed government forces approaching the plantation after seeing police forces heading to the farm,” Bongcayao said.

The operation occurred at 5 a.m.

The high-powered firearms include two cal. 50 homemade Barret sniper rifles, an AK-47 rifle, an M-16 Armalite rifle, and an M-203 rifle.

Bongayao said Army troopers from 103rd Infantry Brigade based in Marawi City have helped during the law enforcement operation.

Brig. Gen. Arthur Cabalona, police director for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, lauded the operating units as well as the civilians who tipped authorities about the illegal plants.

READ: P62M worth of marijuana plants burn down in Kalinga