The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Wednesday said combined forces of the agency, the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army destroyed a total of P6.7 million worth of marijuana during an eradication operation in Maguindanao.
In a report submitted to PDEA Director General Isidro Lapeña, Regional Director Edgar Apalla of PDEA Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA RO-ARMM) said his agents, in collaboration with teams from Matanog Municipal Police Station, Mindanao Area Police Intelligence, PNP Police Regional Office-ARMM, the Bravo Company, the 6th Infantry Battalion, the 6th Infantry Division, the Army and the local government of Matanog, Maguindanao conducted a marijuana eradication operation in Sitio Pangtoon, Barangay Sapad and Barangay Bayanga Sur, Matanog, Maguindanao that led to the discovery of the illegal hemp in a plantation site with an estimated land area of 12 hectares.
A total of 27,000 full-grown marijuana plants and 52 kilograms of dried marijuana leaves in brick form, with a total estimated market value of P6,700,000, were destroyed as a result of the operation.
Meanwhile, two suspected cultivators, identified as Naks Kanakanan and Radzak Macarimbang Maguid, managed to evade arrest after sporadic gun fire coming from different directions prevented the operatives from pursuing them.