P4-M drugs seized, suspect nabbed

BAGUIO CITY — Cordillera police confiscated illegal drugs worth P4,443,800 and arrested a suspect in a series of anti-drug operations in Benguet province on 29 April.

Authorities discovered 4,100 fully grown marijuana plants and around 30,000 grams of dried marijuana stalks across seven plantation sites located in Barangay Badeo and Barangay Tacadang in Kibungan, Barangay Gadang in Kapangan and Barangay Kayapa in Bakun.

The seized marijuana, with a total standard drug price of P4,420,000, was immediately burned on-site. Police said follow-up investigation is ongoing to identify the cultivators behind the plantations.

The joint operation was conducted by personnel of municipal police stations in Kibungan, Bakun and Kapangan, the Benguet Provincial Mobile Force Companies, and specialized units of the Police Regional Office-Cordillera in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

In a separate buy-bust operation in Barangay Balili, Mankayan, authorities arrested a 42-year-old man identified as a street-level drug personality after he allegedly sold 0.62 grams of suspected shabu worth P4,216.

Police said an additional 2.88 grams of suspected shabu, valued at P19,584, were recovered from the suspect during the arrest.

The suspect and seized evidence were brought to the Mankayan Municipal Police Station for documentation and proper disposition. He will face charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.