16K marijuana plants uprooted in Cebu

FILE: BURNED. Some of the marijuana plants uprooted by the Regional Intelligence Division-Regional Special Operations Group in Barangay Tagbao, Cebu City on Wednesday were burned on the plantation site. (Photo courtesy of Police Regional Office-Central Visayas)

CEBU CITY — Some 16,000 marijuana plants were uprooted in three barangays in Cebu after two days of operations.

Combined police and military forces uprooted 3,000 fully-grown marijuana plants from a plantation in the hinterlands of Asturias, Cebu early Thursday morning.

Reports reaching the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) said the operation conducted around 6 a.m. in Barangay Kaluangan, Asturias was spearheaded by the CPPO Mobile Force Company headed by Supt. Rene Kyamko.

The uprooted plants have an estimated Dangerous Drugs Board value of PHP1.2 million. No arrests were made during the operation.

The raid was carried out with the participation of the 47th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, Provincial Intelligence Branch, Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit, and the Asturias police.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Regional Intelligence Division-Regional Special Operations Group (RID-RSOG) raided two separate plantations in Cebu City and Balamban, Cebu and uprooted a total of 13,000 marijuana plants.

The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (RPO-7) said the raid in Barangay Magsaysay, Balamban was led by Senior Inspectors Windell Abellana and Ricardo Tiro.

The operation in Barangay Tagbao, Cebu City, on the other hand, was under the supervision of Supt. Josefino Ligan, who said that most of the uprooted plants were burned on site while some were brought to the RID-RSOG office as evidence.

Nobody was arrested during the operation jointly conducted with some personnel from the Naval Forces Central Command and the Balamban Police Station.