SAN ILDEFONSO, Ilocos Sur — Authorities seized about 600 fully grown marijuana plants and 1,400 seedlings during an eradication operation in Sugpon, Ilocos Sur, as law enforcement agencies continue to target marijuana cultivation sites in the province’s mountainous areas.
The operation was carried out on Sept. 5 in Barangay Caoayan, Sugpon, where police and anti-drug personnel discovered three cultivation sites covering an estimated 111 square meters, according to the Ilocos Sur Police Provincial Office (ISPPO). The seized plants and seedlings were estimated to have a value of ₱176,000.
The operation was led by Lt. Col. David Dulnuan, deputy provincial director for operations, with personnel from the ISPPO Drug Enforcement Unit, the 2nd Ilocos Sur Provincial Mobile Force Company, the ISPPO Intelligence and Detective Management Unit-KIMAT, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 1, and the Sugpon Municipal Police Station.
Another major marijuana operation just days earlier
The latest seizure comes only days after another significant marijuana eradication operation in Sugpon.
On Aug. 29, authorities discovered four marijuana plantations near the disputed boundary of Mt. Teba in Barangay Licungan, recovering approximately 4,000 seedlings and 660 mature plants with an estimated standard drug price of ₱292,000.
That operation was conducted under Oplan Deicesais 2026, involving the Ilocos Sur Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit, the provincial intelligence and detection unit, Sugpon police, mobile force units and intelligence personnel.
Police said the plants were uprooted, inventoried and documented before being destroyed at the site. Samples were also secured for laboratory examination. No cultivator was arrested during that Aug. 29 operation.
The two operations illustrate the continuing scale of marijuana cultivation being uncovered in the remote highlands of Sugpon.
Sugpon remains a major focus of eradication efforts
Recent operations indicate that the Sept. 5 seizure is part of a broader, sustained campaign rather than an isolated discovery.
In July, authorities reported destroying 23,000 fully grown marijuana plants valued at about ₱4.6 million from two plantations covering roughly 2,000 square meters in Barangay Licungan, Sugpon. Officials said more than ₱58 million worth of marijuana plants had been destroyed in Ilocos Sur since January 2026, mostly in rugged areas along the Ilocos Sur-Benguet boundaries.
Earlier in the year, authorities also reported the destruction of 24,020 mature marijuana plants from 10 plantation sites in Barangays Caaoayan and Licungan, Sugpon, during operations from May 29 to 31. The plants were valued at approximately ₱4.8 million. No cultivator was arrested in that operation either.
In June, two separate operations in Sugpon resulted in the destruction of another 16,400 mature marijuana plants valued at about ₱3.28 million.
Why authorities are targeting the plantations at the source
The Philippine government treats marijuana cultivation as an illegal drug offense under Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The law defines cultivation as knowingly planting, growing, raising, or permitting the planting or growing of plants that are sources of dangerous drugs. Section 16 specifically prohibits the planting or cultivation of marijuana, regardless of quantity, subject to legally authorized medical or research exceptions.
Authorities have consequently emphasized dismantling cultivation sites in remote areas to prevent marijuana from entering the illegal drug supply chain.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has also described its broader anti-drug strategy as combining supply reduction with demand-reduction and community-based prevention efforts.
The bigger picture in the Ilocos Region
The latest Sugpon operation also comes amid intensified anti-drug enforcement throughout Region 1.
The Police Regional Office 1 reported that its units conducted 136 anti-illegal-drug operations in August, resulting in 146 arrests and the seizure of illegal drugs with an estimated combined value of more than ₱6.59 million. The haul included marijuana plants and seedlings recovered during operations in the region.
For Ilocos Sur, the repeated discovery of plantations in difficult-to-reach mountainous terrain remains a significant challenge for law enforcement.
For now, the Sept. 5 operation has resulted in the seizure of approximately 2,000 marijuana plants and seedlings, but authorities have not reported an arrest connected to the latest discovery in Barangay Caoayan.
The continuing operations suggest that law enforcement agencies are looking beyond individual seizures and are attempting to identify and dismantle the cultivation sites that supply the illegal marijuana trade.
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