ZAMBOANGA CITY, 23 October 2005 — Security forces yesterday said they have destroyed a large marijuana plantation believed to be maintained by Abu Sayyaf extremists in the southern Philippine island of Jolo.
Officials said army troops were tracking down militants in the hinterlands of Patao village in Maimbung town when they stumbled into the plantation.
A combined team of soldiers and police were then sent to the place to destroy the illegal crops.
“We have uprooted at least 3,000 fully grown marijuana plants,” army Maj. Gamal Hayudini, a spokesman of the military’s Southern Command, told Arab News.
Hayudini said the seized marijuana plants were handed over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for disposal.
Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan yesterday lauded the soldiers who found the plantation and urged citizens in Jolo to help protect their own children by providing information about illegal drugs.
“This is everybody’s concern and we should all stand up and unite to fight the drug menace,” Adan said.
Previous military reports said the Abu Sayyaf and allied extremist and bandit groups have been engaging in the illegal drug trade to finance their violent activities. Aside from the illegal drugs, the Abu Sayyaf group is also into extortion and kidnappings-for-ransom, it said.
Government reports said more than 20 million marijuana plants had been seized and destroyed since 2002 in the Philippines.
According to the 2004 World Drug Report of the United Nations, more Filipinos smoke marijuana than their Southeast Asian counterparts and that the Philippines is ranked along with Thailand and Cambodia as a major producer of cannabis in the region.
The Philippines also ranked 52nd among 136 countries where there are large users of marijuana, being the cheapest in a wide array of illegal drugs in the country.
A stick of dried marijuana cigarette sells only 2 pesos (3 US cents) in the Philippines.
