TABUK CITY — In a span of eight months, the Kalinga Provincial Police Office was able record more than half-a-billion worth of confiscations of illegal drugs in at least 63 operations.

Police data shows that combined personnel from different law enforcement units during the period led to the conduct of 32 eradication operations; 18 buy-bust; 10 conduct of search warrant; 6 checkpoint;7 police response and 5 service of warrant of arrest.

Of the 63 drug operations, the latest are two marijuana eradication operations in 13 plantation sites at Barangay Loccong, Tinglayan, Kalinga last August 24 to 25 where P60,930,558 worth of illegal cultivated plants were destroyed.

Of the total amount of destroyed and confiscated drugs, P459,702,000 were marijuana plants uprooted on site from the eight months of operations.

There were also 3.80 grams of shabu and 77 kilograms of marijuana seized in buy-bust worth P9,124,567 that led to the filing of 18 charges against 21 persons.

For the conduct of checkpoint, police arrested 12 persons who attempted to transport illegal drugs worth P23,277,121.

Swift police response led to the confiscation of 52.2935 grams of hashish and 399.927 kilograms ng dried marijuana stalk worth P56,406,240.

Records showed this is an increase compared to the total of P440,480,514.592 destroyed marijuana and other illegal drugs that resulted from 103 operations for the whole year in 2020.

Kalinga Provincial Police Director Col Davy Limmong was designated to head the provincial police force in 2020 declared prioritization of the anti-illegal drugs campaign considering that the province is a “hot spot” of marijuana plantation.

“We already have operatives in Tinglayan who have stationed there to monitor the mountains and arrest a cultivator. We will not stop until we arrest a cultivator because they will never stop planting,” Limmong said.