38,400 marijuana plants burned in two-day Tinglayan eradication
PDEA-Cordillera led joint police teams that uprooted and burned 38,400 fully grown marijuana plants worth P7.68 million over 16-17 July 2026 in Butbut Proper, Tinglayan, Kalinga. The 3,200-square-metre plantation sat on mountainous terrain; no one was arrested, and investigators said they were tracking the cultivators and landowners.
Joint anti-drug teams uprooted and burned 38,400 fully grown marijuana plants worth an
estimated P7.68 million in Barangay Butbut Proper, Tinglayan, Kalinga, over 16 and 17
July 2026.[1][2]A barangay is the smallest unit of local government in the
Philippines.[1]The plantation covered about 3,200 square metres of mountainous
terrain.[1][2]
The operation was led by the Cordillera office of the Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency with the police regional office, the Kalinga provincial police office, the
Tinglayan municipal police station and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology’s
Kalinga district office.[1]Bombo Radyo also named the police special action forces,
the drug enforcement group’s Cordillera special operations unit and an RIU 14-PIT
Kalinga team.[2]
No arrests were made.[1][2]Investigators said they were tracking down those
responsible for cultivating the marijuana, including the landowners, and PDEA-Cordillera
said the operation forms part of its intensified campaign against cultivation and
production in the region.[1]
Photos and video
PNP and PDEA operatives work through a marijuana plantation on a Kalinga hillside during the 16-17 July eradication.Photo details
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.
