3K marijuana plants uprooted, shabu peddler nabbed in Lanao del Sur
TIMRA Reports • 12:15 PM Wed Jul 6, 2022
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By:
John M. Unson
The marijuana plants were immediately set on fire by the raiding team. (Col. Jibin Bongcayao, via John Unson)
COTABATO CITY - A police team uprooted 3,000 marijuana shrubs in the upland Tugaya town in Lanao del Sur Tuesday.
Col. Jibin Bongcayao, director of the Lanao del Sur provincial police, said Wednesday their operation was premised on tips by villagers in Barangay Bago-a-Ingud in Tugaya about the propagation of marijuana by an armed group in the area.
Bongcayao said combined personnel of the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office, the Tugaya municipal police force and units under the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region together destroyed the marijuana farm on Tuesday afternoon.
“Our personnel immediately set the plants on fire after collecting samples to be used as evidence in filing cases against its propagators,” Bongcayao said.
The gunmen guarding the marijuana plants managed to scamper away when they sensed that lawmen were approaching their location from three directions.
Bongcayao said local officials and barangay leaders have assured to help identify the culprits for prosecution.
Also on Tuesday, policemen seized P13,600 worth of shabu from a dealer entrapped in the same town.
Col. Bongcayao said Hamza Bayabao Dilabayan is now in the custody of the Tugaya Municipal Police Station, to be prosecuted for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Dilabayan was arrested after selling shabu to non-uniformed police agents during a tradeoff Tuesday afternoon in Barangay Campong-Talao
The sting that led to his arrest was jointly carried out by the Tugaya municipal police force and personnel of units under the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
Bongacayao said the operation was premised on tips from relatives of Dilabayan privy to his shabu peddling activities.