By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Around 500 marijuana plants were uprooted and seized in Barangay Codcod, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental on Monday morning, November 29.
Joint members of the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit 6, Regional Mobile Force Battalion 6, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Anti-Illegal Drugs Team, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 discovered the marijuana plants in an around 200-square meter plantation.
Police Regional Office 6 spokesperson, Police Lt. Colonel Arnel Solis, said the seized marijuana plants had a total combined weight of 10 kilos with a market value of P38,000.
Solis said it took at least six hours of trekking to reach the plantation, adding that it was located in the mountainous area of the village.
Authorities, meanwhile, failed to find the caretaker of the marijuana plantation.
The seized marijuana plants were immediately turned over to the Negros Occidental Crime Laboratory for examination.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, November 28, San Carlos City police also seized P476,000 worth of suspected shabu following a buy-bust operation in the city’s Barangay Palampas.
Lt. Roby Aurita, deputy for administration of San Carlos City Police Station, said drug suspect Junry Guitguit, 36, and a resident of Urban Fatima Village in the city’s Barangay Rizal, was arrested when he transacted with a poseur buyer at the Centermall, an open field located near the city hall.
Operatives seized from the suspect seven plastic sachets containing the prohibited substance, weighing about 70 grams and valued at P476,000, along with an improvised tooter, a disposable lighter, and P246 cash.
The suspect was detained at the San Carlos City Police Station, facing charges for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
In an earlier statement, Mayor Renato Gustilo said the city government is finding ways to clear San Carlos City of the drug menace.
He noted that they provide incentives to the police for successful operations and confiscation of illegal substances. (With a report from PNA)/DGB, WDJ