P12.5-M marijuana plants destroyed

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union, Philippines – Lawmen uprooted some P12.5 million worth of marijuana plants in Barangay Licungan in Sugpon, Ilocos Sur yesterday.

Police officers and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency operatives also burned 2,400 seedlings and 30,000 grams of dried marijuana leaves, according to PDEA deputy director Edgar Apalla.

In Aparri, Cagayan, around 200 grams of shabu, with a street value of P500,000, were seized during a drug sting in Barangay San Antonio on Wednesday.

Thelma Pooten, 22, a resident of La Trinidad, Benguet; Janet Castro, 39; Judith Palattao, 33; and Armando Arce, 45, were arrested for allegedly carrying two sachets of shabu.

In Batac City, Allan Raymund Paras was arrested in another drug sting. – Vic Alhambra, Raymund Catindig