Villagers cited for marijuana bust

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya , Philippines   – Civilians in a far-flung village along the Isabela-Kalinga border have been credited for last Wednesday’s discovery of marijuana plantations in the area, one of the country’s biggest single discoveries of such plantations this year.

Sonny Lacerna, information officer of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Cagayan Valley, said that were it not for the tip-off of concerned residents in Sitio Bangabang, the six-hectare plantation with at least 600,000 ready-to-harvest marijuana plants worth some P186 million would not have been dismantled.

The six plantation sites, which took the government’s leading anti-drug operatives more than an hour of hiking to reach through rugged and steep terrain, lie along the provincial tri-boundaries of Quezon, Isabela, Tabuk, Kalinga, and Enrile Cagayan.

“This was a result of the cooperation of the civilians who tipped off about the existence of the plantations. Their information had led us to conduct surveillance operations in the area until we discovered their existence,” he said. 

“If we (take an) aerial view (of the area), we won’t immediately notice that there are marijuana plantations because of the (presence of) corn and rice plants (surrounding them),” said Lacerna.        – Charlie Lagasca