A five-hectare plantation with fully grown marijuana plants worth P3.4 million was found by authorities in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur on Maundy Thursday.
Brig. Gen. Marcelo Morales, the police regional director, said combined teams uprooted the marijuana plants in Sitio Blabaluyong, Barangay Kimlawis Thursday night.
Morales said the Davao del Sur Police Provincial Office (DSPPO), in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), executed the Oplan Ibot Marijuana after receiving report from a reliable informant on a marijuana plantation cultivated by a certain Vicente Dialang.
Authorities failed to arrest Dialang as he was not around when the teams arrived around 7:30 p.m.
Aiding the DSPPO were agents from its drug enforcement unit, the intelligence unit and mobile force company, the Kiblawan Municipal Police Station, the PDEA Davao del Sur, the 39th Infantry Battalion, 1104th Regional Mobile Force Battalion.
Authorities uprooted a total of 17,000 fully grown marijuana plants.
Due to the difficulty of the terrain with its rocky and steep location, the operatives decided to burn a portion of the uprooted marijuana in the area to lessen the transportation load.
“We will continue to hunt the suspect since he is already identified. Surely, we will file a case against him,” Morales said.
The police director also lauded the tipster.
“Indeed, when the police and community work hand in hand in the fight against illegal drugs, our efforts yield successful outcomes,” he added.
The transported 2,000 marijuana plants were turned over to the Davao del Sur Provincial Crime Laboratory Office (DS-PCLO) for laboratory examination.
