Massive raid nets high-value targets

BAGUIO CITY — Police seized more than P24.7 million worth of illegal drugs and arrested 15 people during a two-day operation across the Cordillera region, authorities said Sunday.

The sweep, conducted on 18 and 19 April by the Police Regional Office Cordillera, spanned Baguio City and the provinces of Benguet, Mountain Province and Kalinga.

Among those detained were 12 high-value targets and three street-level suspects.

The bulk of the haul came from a massive marijuana eradication effort in the Benguet municipalities of Bakun, Kapangan, and Kibungan.

Officers located 11 cultivation sites containing 6,300 fully grown plants and roughly 84 kilograms of dried marijuana leaves, valued at an estimated P24.7 million.

Simultaneous operations along the boundary of Sadanga, Mountain Province and Tinglayan, Kalinga, led to the discovery of an additional 66,000 plants worth P13.2 million. All plants were burned on-site after samples were taken for forensic testing.

In Baguio City, a tactical raid in the Slaughter Area of Barangay Sto. Niño resulted in the arrest of 12 high-value suspects.

While police were initially targeting two primary individuals under a search warrant, 10 others found on the premises were also taken into custody. Investigators recovered 21 grams of suspected shabu valued at P142,800.

Additional arrests were reported in Buguias, Benguet, where two suspects were caught following a citizen’s tip, and in Paracelis, Mountain Province, where a search warrant led to the recovery of 14 sachets of shabu.