Cultivator of P12.8M worth of marijuana uprooted in Danao City eludes arrest

Policemen uproot a stalk of fully grown marijuana in Sitio Pulgason, Barangay Langusig, Danao City on Monday, July 27, 2020. | Photos from PDEA-7

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Policemen from Danao City are asking the public to help them trace the whereabouts of the cultivator of marijuana plants uprooted in Sitio Pulgason, Barangay Langusig, Danao City, on Monday afternoon, July 27, 2020.

Police identified the suspected cultivator who eluded the arrest as Baristo Camaongay, a resident of the barangay, who ran off the moment he saw authorities head downhill near the area where the marijuana stalks were planted.

A Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) officer of Danao City Police, who requested anonymity,  said that there were 32,000 fully grown marijuana plants found in the area. This has an estimated worth of P12,800,000.

According to the officer, Camaongay was placed under surveillance after receiving reports that he was growing the illegal plant in the area.

Since the location of the marijuana plants were in a slope of the sitio, authorities who conducted the operation, composing of the Danao City Police Station, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7), First Provincial Mobile Force Company (1stPMFC) and the Navy, had a hard time catching up with the suspect who seemed to know the ins and outs of the area.

One of the officers of the Danao City Police, identified as Police Staff Sergeant Ulysses Dela Torre, reportedly got injured while on the way to the area after some loose rocks fell on his head as they crossed a mini waterfalls.

As of this time, the Danao City Police continue to investigate the background of the suspect with the help of information from residents near the area. /bmjo

Read: P14.3M worth of marijuana uprooted, burned by police in Danao City