Sulu:<Text>

Authorities have destroyed two plantations and uprooted PHP10.3 million worth of marijuana plants in an inter-agency law enforcement operation in the province of Sulu, officials said Wednesday.

According to Philippines News Agency, Brig. Gen. Alaric Avelino Delos Santos, commander of the Army's 1102nd Infantry Brigade (1102Bde), reported that the two marijuana plantations were destroyed on Tuesday in Barangay Masjid Punjungan of Kalingalan Caluang town.

The first site, measuring about 1,000 square meters, contained 5,500 fully grown marijuana plants, while the second site, covering 2,000 square meters, yielded 6,000 plants, Delos Santos stated in his report. In total, 11,500 fully grown marijuana plants were discovered and destroyed across 3,000 square meters, with an estimated value of PHP10,350,000.

Delos Santos noted that the marijuana plants were uprooted and burned on site by joint operatives of the 1102Bde, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Sulu, and police forces. The PDEA is currently conducting an investigation to identify the owner or owners of the two destroyed marijuana plantations.

Delos Santos commended the inter-agency collaboration that led to the destruction of the marijuana plantations. He highlighted that Tuesday's operation was the second of its kind this year in Kalingalan Caluang town. Previously, on February 13, marijuana plants worth PHP18.2 million were destroyed at two plantations in the villages of Masjid Punjungan and Pitogo in the same town.