COPS WEED OUT P187M WORTH OF MARIJUANA

THE Benguet Provincial Police Office has already confiscated and destroyed
some P187.76 million worth of marijuana and its derivatives after the
conduct of 11 eradication operations in various areas in the province since
January this year.

In Tuesday's Kapihan sa Benguet at Kalapaw Restaurant, Sr. Supt. Conrado
Minano Jr., Benguet provincial police director, reported that the
eradication operations led to the destruction of 616,262 fully gown
marijuana plants; 838 dried marijuana stalks; 1,900 marijuana seedlings;
230.50 kilograms of dried MJ leaves, and 20.26 kilograms of seeds.

"The office has also conducted five anti-prohibited drugs operations
resulting to the arrest of seven suspects and confiscation of 79.2 kilograms
of dried MJ leaves and 5.74 grams of shabu," he added.

Minano said that sustained anti-marijuana eradication drive would be
conducted in response to the directive of Chief Supt. George Alino, director
of the Police Regional Office in the Cordilleras, to weed out marijuana
plantations in the province.

He admitted that while there exist marijuana plantations in Benguet, the
expanse of these cultivations was only known after police started to focus
its energy uprooting the prohibited plant.

The other day, Benguet Gov. Raul Molintas conceded that marijuana
plantations in Benguet and the other three provinces - Kalinga, Mt.
Province, Ifugao - are thriving because they have become one of the means of
livelihood for some individuals and armed groups.

Molintas, however, pointed out the barangay chiefs are mandated to report to
the authorities such kinds of illicit activities, adding that appropriate
criminal charges await those whose areas of jurisdiction will be subjected
to at least three successful anti-drug operations by the police without
their knowledge.

Molintas, who chairs the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council, also proposed
the establishment of a "three-strike system" in the province wherein
appropriate charges will be filed against barangay officials whose been
remiss in their obligation to rid their areas of illegal drugs, particularly
marijuana.

To make sure that all the 140 barangay chiefs in the province are aware of
the programs of PADAC, the Provincial Government will conduct a Benguet-wide
anti-drug summit involving all the officials with drug law enforcement
agencies as lecturers.

"The anti-drug summit will be conducted as soon as the winners of the recent
joint barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections take their oaths," he
said.