PNP and PDEA destroy 63,000 marijuana plants across 18 Ilocos Sur farms
Philippine National Police and PDEA units uprooted and burned 63,000 fully grown marijuana plants plus dried material valued at 16.182 million pesos on plantations covering 13,000 square metres in Ilocos Sur on 6 and 7 March 2026; no one was arrested.
Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency destroyed marijuana valued at 16.182 million
pesos across 18 plantations in Ilocos Sur during operations on 6 and 7 March 2026, the Philippine
National Police said in a statement reported on 9 March.[1][2]
Officers cleared about 13,000 square metres of mountain plantations, uprooting and burning 63,000
fully grown plants along with 27.7 kilograms of dried stalks and one kilogram of dried fruiting
tops, GMA News reported.[1]Abante gave the same figures and dates.[2]Authorities kept
samples of plants and stalks for laboratory examination.[1]
No cultivators were arrested during the eradication.[1]National police chief Jose Melencio
Nartatez Jr. said the operation showed the force would keep enforcing drug laws wherever
plantations were found.[1][2]
Photos and video
Marijuana eradication in Ilocos Sur, photo credited to the PNP.Photo details
The PNP statement names Ilocos Sur province but not individual barangays or municipalities for the 18 sites.
Local outlets later reported a separate Licungan, Sugpon operation on 8 March with slightly different plant counts; that was not merged into the national PNP totals opened here.
Samples were sent for laboratory examination; results were not reported in these accounts.
Police confiscated 2,230 fully grown marijuana plants from three plantation sites in Kapangan, Benguet, which police valued at P446,000. The eradication was carried out separately by provincial operating units with no plantation arrests named.
Cordillera police destroyed 548,130 marijuana plants and 9,000 seedlings in 14 operations from 25 October to 1 November 2026, arresting six drug suspects. A parallel manhunt arrested 28 other fugitives, bringing the week's total reported arrests to 34.
Police destroyed three marijuana plantations in Kapangan and Kibungan, Benguet, on 30 October 2026, seizing 1,150 mature plants and 1,000 seedlings. Police valued the plants at P270,000 and burned them on site while seeking those responsible.
Kalinga police uprooted and burned 544,000 fully grown marijuana plants across seven sites in Barangay Loccong, Tinglayan, on 27 October 2026, an operation the provincial office valued at about ₱108.8 million. No cultivators were arrested.
