168,000 marijuana plants uprooted in Sugpon; guns and explosives seized
Police, army special operations troops and PDEA uprooted about 168,000 mature marijuana plants and seedlings across 5.5 hectares in 24 sites at Barangay Caoayan, Sugpon, Ilocos Sur, valued at ₱36.4 million. Santos and Pepito Alkadis were named as suspects but were not at the site; officers also seized a rifle, grenade and blasting materials.
🇵🇭 Barangay Caoayan, Sugpon, Ilocos Sur · Philippines
Elements of the Special Operations Group, Sugpon police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
(PDEA) destroyed marijuana across at least 24 sites totalling 5.5 hectares in sitios Nava, Nagawa,
Nacneng, Bekes and Mount Kuba in Barangay Caoayan, Sugpon, Ilocos Sur.[1]Senior Superintendent
Marlou Cortez Chan of the regional intelligence division said troops uprooted about 168,000 fully
grown plants worth ₱33.6 million and seedlings worth ₱2.8 million, for a total value of ₱36.4
million by police estimates.[1]
Weapons and absent suspects
The team also confiscated a .30-calibre M1 Garand rifle, four sticks of dynamite, twelve blasting
caps, a hand grenade, detonating cord and eight clips of Garand ammunition.[1]Suspected cultivators
Santos and Pepito Alkadis were not present, but police said they would face charges under the
dangerous-drugs and anti-firearms laws.[1]The report does not describe arrests or burns at the
scene beyond the uprooting.[1]
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.
