Ilocos sur: Local authorities on Tuesday announced the destruction of marijuana plants worth PHP4.8 million in the rugged highlands of Sugpon, Ilocos Sur, following a series of recent intensified eradication campaigns to safeguard communities.

According to Philippines News Agency, Col. Agosto Asuncion, director of the Ilocos Sur Police Provincial Office, stated that 24,020 fully grown marijuana plants, covering an area of about 3,540 square meters across 10 plantation sites in Barangays Caaoayan and Licungan in Sugpon town, were seized and destroyed during the May 29-31 operations.

Authorities reported that no cultivator was arrested, and the landowner remains unidentified. Follow-up investigations and intelligence monitoring are ongoing to identify and apprehend individuals involved in illegal cultivation.

Col. Asuncion commended the dedication and perseverance of the operating personnel who traversed difficult and mountainous terrain to locate and dismantle the illegal plantations.

Joint operatives from the Sugpon municipal police station, 2nd Ilocos Sur Provincial Mobile Force Company, Ilocos Sur Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit, and other support agencies carried out the operations.

He assured the public that marijuana eradication operations in the province will continue as part of the police's commitment to maintaining a safer, more secure, and drug-free Ilocos Sur.

In compliance with Section 21 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the uprooted marijuana plants were immediately burned and destroyed onsite.

The destruction process was documented and witnessed by representatives of the operating units, who signed the certificate of destruction.