Cops uproot P32-M worth marijuana in Lanao del Sur
Peace and Order • 15:30 PM Tue Sep 13, 2022
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By:
John M. Unson
The marijuana farm raids were jointly carried out by police and Army personnel. (From PRO-BAR)
COTABATO CITY --- Policemen uprooted no less than P32 million worth of marijuana shrubs in four locations in Maguing town in Lanao del Sur Monday.
Brig. Gen. John Guyguyon, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Tuesday the teams that raided the two farms in Barangay Dilimbayan and two more in Barangay Pindulonan were assisted by vigilant residents of Maguing.
Maguing is an upland town in the first district of Lanao del Sur.
In separate reports late Monday, the Police Drug Enforcement Unit-Special Operations Group 15, Police Major Esmael Madin of the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit and Lanao del Sur’s police director, Col. Jibin Bongcayao, said policemen destroyed no less than 160,000 marijuana plants in the simultaneous operations.
Guyguyon said armed men guarding the marijuana farms scampered away when they noticed policemen, backed by personnel of units under the Army’s 101st Infantry Brigade, approaching their locations from different directions.
The uprooted marijuana plants were immediately set on fire by policemen and soldiers after collecting specimens to be used as evidence in filing cases against propagators.
Guyguyon said members of the municipal peace and order councils in Maguing and nearby towns in the first district of Lanao del Sur have reported that the armed groups who owned the four marijuana farms have links with the outlawed Dawlah Islamiya terror group.
The Dawlah Islamiya is known for giving sanctuary to criminal gangs in exchange for shares in their earnings from illegal activities.