MANILA, Jan. 22 (PNA) -– More than P40 million worth of marijuana plants and seedlings were destroyed after agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) swooped down on a plantation in Ilocos Sur province recently.
In a press statement issued Wednesday, PDEA Director General Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac Jr. said that the operation launched jointly by PDEA-Regional Office 1 and local police also resulted in the arrest of a 19-year-old marijuana cultivator.
Cacdac identified the suspect as Victor Ganase, a resident of Barangay Dinwende West, Cervantes, Ilocos Sur.
The two-day operation was launched on January 18 to 19, covering 3.5 hectares of marijuana plantation in Barangay Dinwende East, Cervantes town.
The operating team uprooted and burned on site approximately 100,000 fully-grown marijuana plants, and 500,000 pieces of marijuana seedlings worth P40,088,000, while kilos of dried marijuana leaves and buds, a bundle of marijuana stem and a weighing scale, were discovered at the back of Ganase’s house.
Cases for violation of Section 11 (Possession of Dangerous Drugs) and Section 16 (Cultivation of Dangerous Drugs), Article II, of Republic Act 9165, or The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, will be filed in court against Ganase. (PNA)