18 Oct Joint Operatives Seizes and Destroys Marijuana worth P13.7M in Agusan del Sur
On October 15, Saturday afternoon, following a joint operation in the hinterlands of Loreto, Agusan del Sur, about P13.7 million worth of marijuana were destroyed and burned.
The joint operation was organized by the personnel from the municipal, provincial, regional and special police units and from the 26th Infantry Battalion, station commander of the Loreto Municipal Police Station, Police Inspector Aldrin Salinas said.
Salinas stated, “The team successfully uprooted a total of 29,000 fully grown marijuana plants from site-1 separated for about 100 meters site-2 that has around 26,000 plants which are around 55,000 plants with estimated Dangerous Drug Board value of P13,775,000 in the mountainous part of Sitio Mactan in Barangay Kasapa 1, Loreto town, Agusan del Sur.”
He added, “We immediately burned the majority of the plants with the presence of our acting Agusan del Sur provincial director Police Senior Superintendent Joseph Plaza and the Regional Director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Gilbert Buenafe who was with us. We carried a handful of plants down to the town center to be used for the ceremonial burning.”
Around 110 elements from the Provincial Public Safety Company, two companies of the Regional Public Safety Battalion, Special Action Force or SAF, soldiers from the 26th Infantry Battalion, and village representatives participated the operation.
Salinas stated, “We departed from our police station at midnight and arrived in barangay Kasapa at around 5:00 in the morning since there was a road problem our transportation had to overcome. Then we transferred to another bigger truck, which is what we call Saddam so we arrived in the populated community of Sitio Mactan at around 8:30 in the morning. From there we started hiking for another six hours’ hike going to the area, crossed about four creeks, 8 kilometers but due to the height and terrain with almost 90-degrees stiff climbs that is why it took us that long to hike, arriving in the area at around 1:30 in the afternoon.”
The operation is part of the region’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs and soon after several raids against marijuana plantations in the area, regional director of Police Regional Office-Caraga, Police Chief Superintendent Rolando Felix said.
According to the police reports, P15,625,000 worth of marijuana was confiscated on June 2, 2016, at the mountain slopes of Sitio Pilang, Barangay Kasapa 1 in Loreto town.
Another report shows that on June 15, 2016, marijuana worth P6.6 million was also confiscated in the barangay of Waloe in Loreto.
Then on June 20, 2016, marijuana worth P4,562,500 million was seized in the neighboring town of La Paz in Agusan del Sur.
On August 2, 2016, marijuana stalks and seedlings worth P5,596,000 million were yield by the town’s number one high-value weed cultivator to the Loreto municipal police station.
News Source: Sun.Star
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