Almost P50M Cannabis Seized Along Mt. Province-Kalinga Borders

June 18, 2021 JUST IN

BAGUIO CITY (June 18, 2021) – Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agents seized almost P50 million cannabis plants and its derivatives along the borders of Mt. Province and Kalinga provinces in almost a week drive ending on Wednesday this week.

Determined to put an end to the supply chain, PDEA- Kalinga Province led by Intelligence Agent III Rhodelia Macad and PDEA-Mountain Province led by IA III Meyrick Calisto aided by Cordillera policemen trekked the heavily disputed tribal boundaries in Tinglayan and Saclit in Sadanga on June 11-16, 2021 discovering almost 50 million worth of marijuana at Tulgao East, Butbut Proper and Loccong, Buscalan Kalinga and Saclit in Mountain Province.

All the marijuana were torched to the ground after proper documentation, PDEA-Cordillera director Gil Castro said, though admitting no one was chanced upon by the operatives to answer for the “illegal agriculture” in the area.

The border between Mt. Province and Kalinga has long been a disputed area between Butbut (Buscalan, Kalinga) and Betwagan, Mt. province tribes, even leading to armed confrontations. Authorities have not been able to end the dispute amid efforts to institute cadastral and territorial adjudication measures.

Director Castro of PDEA vowed no let-up in the supply reduction operations of the anti-drug agency as operatives wrapped up the week-long operation in the region catching Sean Allen Castillo, who did not resist arrest giving up peacefully to a PDEA tracker team led by Manuel Diaz of PDEA-Benguet under the direct supervision of Intelligence Agent V Edwin Changrapen.

It is the end of Castillo, a highly mobile and elusive wanted drug trader in La Trinidad, Benguet, Castro said.

Artemio A. Dumlao