Police seize P1.8 million in drugs in Cordillera

BAGUIO CITY — Police in the Cordillera Administrative Region seized an estimated P1.83 million worth of suspected illegal drugs and arrested two men in separate operations across three provinces on Aug. 5, authorities said.

The operations, conducted in Kalinga, Mountain Province and Apayao, were part of the Police Regional Office-Cordillera’s continuing campaign against illegal drugs, the PRO CAR said in a statement.

In Kalinga, police discovered a marijuana plantation containing about 9,000 fully grown plants in Barangay Butbut Proper in Tinglayan, with an estimated standard drug price of P1.8 million, according to police.

The operation involved personnel from the Tinglayan, Pasil and Balbalan municipal police stations, the 2nd Kalinga Provincial Mobile Force Company and the Kalinga Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit.

Police uprooted and destroyed the plants at the site, while samples were brought to the Provincial Forensic Unit-Kalinga for qualitative testing, the statement said.

Authorities said they were continuing to investigate the area to determine whether other marijuana plantations existed nearby and to identify people allegedly involved in the cultivation.

In Mountain Province, a 35-year-old man identified by police as a street-level individual was arrested during a search-warrant operation in Barangay Tapapan, Bauko.

Police said eight sachets containing suspected shabu, weighing a combined 3 grams and valued at P20,400 based on the standard drug price, were recovered from the man’s residence.

An improvised glass tooter containing about 1 ml of liquid suspected to be shabu, valued at P6,262.80, was also seized, authorities said.

The operation involved the Bauko Municipal Police Station, units of the Mountain Province Provincial Police Office, Regional Intelligence Unit 14, Regional Mobile Force Battalion 15 and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Mountain Province.

In Apayao, police separately recovered three plastic sachets containing suspected shabu weighing 0.127 gram and valued at P863.60 during another search-warrant operation in Barangay Panay, Santa Marcela.

A 29-year-old man, also classified by police as a street-level individual, was arrested in the operation, according to PRO CAR.

The operation was conducted by personnel from the Santa Marcela Municipal Police Station, the Apayao Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit and Provincial Intelligence Unit, the 1st Apayao Provincial Mobile Force Company and the PRO CAR Regional Intelligence Division.

Police said the two arrested men and the seized items were placed under the custody of the respective lead operating units for documentation and proper disposition.

Authorities said the suspects could face charges under Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.