Pubdate: Wed, 11 Aug 2004 Source: Today (Philippines) Copyright: 2004 Today Contact: http://www.today.net.ph/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3458 Author: Manuel T. Cayon, TODAY Reporter Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids) 26 ARRESTED IN MARIJUANA PLANTATION RAID IN DAVAO SUR DAVAO CITY - Government operatives arrested 26 persons during a raid on a marijuana plantation in Malita, Davao del Sur, on Monday. It was considered one of the biggest antidrug operations undertaken by law-enforcement agencies in Southern Mindanao. The alleged planters and caretakers of the plantation did not resist arrest and turned in their weapons to the joint team of the Davao del Sur provincial police, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 111, the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC)-East Mindanao, Air Intel, Security Group 11 and the 25th Infantry Battalion. The names of the suspects were withheld, but according to the government-operated dxRP-Radyo ng Bayan, the police were also withholding information on the identity of the "financier-traffickers," pending the filing of appropriate charges. Supt. Nestor Quinsay, Davao del Sur police director, said the joint team swooped down around 7 a.m. in sitio Dulao, barangay Demoloc, Malita, near the boundaries of Sarangani and Malungon. The operatives uprooted more than 1,200 marijuana plants worth P1 million. "This is one of the biggest scores this year in Region 11 and is only the starting point of a massive crackdown on marijuana plantations in Davao del Sur and adjoining areas," he said. The PDEA warned that other remote areas in Malita would be targeted in succeeding operations. Maj. Bruce Concepcion, head of the PCTC, said the unidentified financiers of the plantation "may be the link between the planters and the complicated maze of the distribution system that extends to the international market." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin