PDEA, Marines destroy marijuana plantation in Sulu town

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Anti-narcotics agents, backed by soldiers, swooped down early Friday on a marijuana plantation owned by an Abu Sayyaf supporter in Kalingalan Caluang town in Sulu province in southern Philippines, the military said.

It said members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Marine Battalion Landing Team 7 raided the 2,100-square meter illegal plantation - owned by a man identified only as Sahabi - in the village of Masjid Punjungan.

Soldiers and anti-narcotics agents in collaboration with village leaders, uprooted some 22,000 fully grown marijuana plants and burned them. 

Military photos show security forces uprooting marijuana plants in Kalingalan Caluang town in Sulu province.

Marine battalion commander, Lt. Col. Oliver Baylon, said the destroyed marijuana was well over P5 million in street value.

Maj. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, commander of the 11^th Infantry Division and anti-terror Joint Task Force Sulu, said Sahabi is a known supporter of the pro-ISIS group Abu Sayyaf and may be using funds from the illegal marijuana trade to finance the violent campaign of the terrorist group.

“Sahabi is a supporter of the Abu Sayyaf group. The marijuana plantation could be another source of fund of the Abu Sayyaf and their supporters,” Vinluan said.

Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, chief of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, said troops will continue supporting law enforcement operations of the PDEA in an effort to eradicate the illegal trade. “Team WestMinCom will continue to support other agencies in the conduct of law enforcement operations to prevent the proliferation of illegal drugs in our operational area,” he said.

Officials did not report any arrest and it was unknown whether villagers were aware of the existence of the marijuana plantation in the area. (Zamboanga Post)

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