Police destroy 3-hectare Lanao del Sur marijuana farm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Authorities destroyed three hectares of Marijuana plants in Maguing town in Lanao del Sur Thursday.

Col. Jibin Boncayao, Lanao del Sur provincial police director, said Friday their anti-narcotics agents placed at no less than P12 million the value of the marijuana shrubs in a three-hectare farm in Barangay Bato-Bato, Maguing that police personnel uprooted and burned.

The raiding team also found five assault rifles in an abandoned makeshift outpost close to the marijuana farm.

“It was likely that the owners of the firearms ran away when they noticed that police and Army personnel were approaching the marijuana farm from different directions,” Bongcayao said.

The five firearms -- two .50 caliber bolt action Barrett sniper rifles, a Kalashnikov AK 47 rifle, an M16 rifle and an M203 rifle fitted with a launcher for 40 millimeter grenade projectiles --- are now in the custody of the provincial police.

Bongcayao said the anti-narcotics operation that resulted in the uprooting of the marijuana plants was assisted by units of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade.

Bongcayao said they are now trying to identify the propagators of the marijuana plants that they immediately set on fire for them to be charged with violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.