Oplan Highlander burns 3.3 million marijuana plants in Kalinga
Police and partner agencies uprooted and burned 3,349,500 marijuana plants and 1,575 kg of dried stalks across 27 sites on Mt Chumancil, Tinglayan, in a nine-day operation ending 7 May 2024. Police valued the haul at about P858.8 million; no cultivators were identified.
Cordillera police joined national police units, the armed forces, the Air Force, the Coast Guard, intelligence officers and PDEA agents in a nine-day eradication operation dubbed Oplan Highlander, from 29 April to 7 May 2024.[1][2]Regional director Brig. Gen. David Peredo Jr. and other Cordillera officers took part in person in uprooting and burning the plants.[1]
The teams found 3,349,500 fully grown marijuana plants and 1,575,000 grams of dried stalks with fruiting tops across 27 plantation sites on Mt Chumancil, spanning the Tinglayan barangays of Buscalan and Loccong.[1][2]The PRO-Cordillera press release valued the haul at P858,800,900.[1]
Officers were still working to identify the cultivators and had asked barangay communities for information when the release was issued.[1]Five officers later received the PNP Heroism Medal for the operation.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
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.
