By Hilda Austria

ERADICATION. A part of the 4,000-square-meter marijuana plantation at Sitio Mapita Barangay Laoag, Aguilar town, Pangasinan. There were 19,250 fully grown marijuana plants worth PHP3.8 million seized during the operation on Tuesday (March 26, 2024). (Photo courtesy of PDEA Pangasinan)

MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – Government operatives seized 19,250 fully-grown marijuana plants worth PHP3.8 million during an operation in Aguilar town, Pangasinan, Tuesday.

The plants were also immediately burned on site after the operation, according to Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Pangasinan provincial director Retchie Camacho.

They discovered the area with a total lot area of 4,000 square meters on the mountainous part of Sitio Mapita.

Two suspects, aged 15 and 17, were arrested while another male individual evaded arrest, Camacho said.

“This is very alarming since we now have cultivators in our province. We are again appealing to the barangay officials to be vigilant especially those in the mountainous areas,” he said. (PNA)