P38.7 M marijuana in Ilocos Sur, Benguet

By Freddie Lazaro and Dexter A. See

Marijuana plantations worth P38.7 million worth of the banned crop were destroyed in “Operation: Farm Ville 2” carried out by authorities in the boundaries of Ilocos Sur and Kibungan, Benguet.

Bismark Bengawayan, public information officer of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Region 1, reported Tuesday the five-day clean-up operation at the marijuana fields ended April 19.

Conducted by the PDEA with elements of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Operation Farm Ville 2 accomplished the uprooting and destruction of 176, 415 fully-grown marijuana plants, 12,000 fruiting tops, 4,000 seedlings, four kilos of seeds, and 35 kilos of dried marijuana leaves.

Bengawayan, quoting the Dangerous Drug Board, said the total of these were valued at P38.7 million.

Chief Supt. Samuel B. Diciano, Police Regional Office-Cordillera director, said the clean-up phase of the anti-drug operation came after massive operation in the tri-boundaries of La Union, Benguet and Ilocos Sur where over P1.3 billion worth of marijuana were uprooted and destroyed.