PDEA, PNP destroy P186M marijuana plants in Ilocos

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Region 1 and police units destroyed marijuana plants and related materials valued at P186.4 million during a six-day eradication drive conducted in remote areas near the Ilocos Sur-Benguet boundary, authorities said.

PDEA said the operations were carried out from 16 January to 21 January 2026, focusing on contested boundary areas between Barangay Licungan, Sugpon, Ilocos Sur, and Barangay Tacadang, Kibungan, Benguet, including mountainous sections of Mount Boa and Mount Leteban.

PDEA Regional Director Atty. Benjamin G. Gaspi said composite teams located, uprooted, and destroyed marijuana plantations spread across an estimated 106,500 square meters. Authorities said 144 plantation sites were dismantled during the successive operations.

PDEA reported that the teams uprooted and destroyed a total of 628,295 fully grown marijuana plants valued at P125.6 million, 211,795 marijuana seedlings worth P44.47 million, and 135 kilograms of marijuana fruiting tops valued at P16.32 million.

The eradication missions were carried out by joint teams composed of PDEA’s Regional Special Enforcement Team and provincial offices from La Union, Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, and Ilocos Norte, with support from police units including the Police Regional Office 1 Regional Mobile Force Battalion, Ilocos Sur Police Provincial Office units, the PNP Drug Enforcement Group, and the Sugpon Police Station, among others.

PDEA said the seized marijuana plants were destroyed on site, as the plantation areas were located in hard-to-reach terrain, which has long been a challenge for enforcement teams conducting anti-illegal drug operations in the Cordillera boundary.

Authorities said the intensified eradication operations form part of continuing efforts to prevent the cultivation of illegal drugs at source, particularly in geographically isolated and boundary areas that are often exploited by drug syndicates.