P2.9M marijuana destroyed in PDEA raids in Benguet, Cebu

Marijuana plant. AP FILE

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) destroyed P2.9 million worth of marijuana in antidrug operations in Northern Luzon and the Visayas.

PDEA Director Aaron Aquino said Sunday that a total of 10,842 marijuana plants were uprooted and destroyed in raids on cultivation sites in Benguet province and Cebu City.

Aquino said that 8,700 full grown marijuana plants were uprooted while 2.4 kilograms of marijuana stalks were destroyed last March 19 in Sitio Bana, Barangay Kibungan, Benguet, amounting to P2,040,000.

The operation was done jointly by the PDEA Regional Office, the National Bureau Investigation in the Cordillera Administrative Region, the Benguet Police Provincial Office, and the Kibungan and Alilem police in five cultivation sites.

Meanwhile, an operation in Siitio Cabaasan, Barangay Tagba-o, Cebu City, on March 20 led to the burning of 2,142 pieces of fully grown marijuana worth of P856.8 thousand, Aquino said.

It was conducted by jointly by the PDEA Regional Office, the Naval Intelligence Security Group, Naval Forces Central, and the Central Command Office in Cebu. /cbb