Operations against loose firearms led to discovery of marijuana plantation site in upland Cebu City

Policemen from the Cebu City Mobile Force Company have uprooted and burned over 2,600 stalks of marijuana plants found in a timberland portion of Barangay Adlaon, Cebu City on Wednesday, February 19, 2020. | Photo courtesy of CMFC

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Multiple operations, which were aimed to confiscate loose firearms in the mountain villages in Cebu City, have led police to discover a marijuana plantation in a timberland-classified lot.

Police from the Cebu City Mobile Force Company (CMFC), City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU), City Intelligence Branch (CIB), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA-7), and Naval Forces Central in Central Visayas (NAVFORCEN-7) uprooted 2,650 fully-grown stalks of marijuana Wednesday afternoon, February 19.

Read more: Mountain brgy residents in Cebu City turn over 179 loose guns, grenades, ammo

The plants, found on the slope of a hill in the timberland portions of Sitio Bayabas, Barangay Adlaon, were worth P1,060,000, and these were immediately burned down on the site.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Randy Korret, CMFC chief, told reporters in a press conference Thursday, February 20, that several residents in the area tipped the police about the plantation site during their operations against illegal possession of firearms there.

“There were actually reports of marijuana being cultivated in the area from the residents,” Korret said.

He added that it took them three months to verify the information.

However, Korret said they haven’t arrested any suspected cultivator of the prohibited plants.

“It was a timberland area. So, it’s a government-owned lot. There were no houses around, and it’s quite secluded. Our team even have difficulty accessing the area,” he added./dbs