TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Three suspected marijuana cultivators were arrested after they were caught in the act of uprooting and collecting marijuana plants in the mountainous area of Tinglayan, Kalinga on Sunday, Feb. 27.
Kalinga Provincial Police Office (PPO) Director Col. Peter Tagtag identified the arrested suspects as Peter Bagtang, 22; Langao Bagtang, 70; and a 17-year-old minor. They are facing charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002.
Tagtag said operatives of the Kalinga PPO, the Regional Intelligence Division of Police Regional Office - Cordillera, Regional Mobile Force Battalion 15 (RMFB15), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency - Cordillera Administrative Region (PDEA-CAR), and Philippine Army were implementing OPLAN Herodotus 2 in Mt. Bitullayungan, Barangay Butbut Proper, Tinglayan, Kalinga, when they chanced upon the armed suspects while uprooting and gathering marijuana plants.
The suspects, upon sensing the presence of the law enforcers, tried to elude arrest but were caught after a short chase. Recovered from them were one cal.22 with 12 live ammunition; one cal. 9mm with 21 live ammunition with two magazines, and one 12 gauge ARMSCOR shotgun with four live ammunition.
The operation led to the seizure of more or less 5,000 pieces of fully grown marijuana plants in an estimated land area of 500 square meters with a Standard Drug Price of P1,000,000.
The marijuana plants were burned on site by the operatives.