CITY OF TABUK, Kalinga (PIA) - -Law enforcement agencies are conducting relentless operations aimed to destroy marijuana plantations  in the province and reduce the supply of illegal drugs.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) reported that from January to August 22 this year, they have carried out 19 anti-drug operations, successful interdiction operations and arrested 18 drug personalities.
 
PDEA Provincial Officer Melanie Gorospe reported during the August 22 Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council meeting that operatives conducted Marijuana uprooting on 33 sites during the period. She said  that cultivators in Tinglayan continue to process Marijuana into homemade hashish oil while dried Marijuana are compacted into bricks and tubular forms and  discreetly transported outside the region.
 
In her assessment, Kalinga will remain one of the sources of marijuana in the Cordillera. However, with  the continuous conduct of MJ eradication operations, the production of MJ will be disrupted. But  bigtime MJ traffickers will still  innovate ways and means in transporting cannabis  as a result of previous anti-drug operations, she explained.
 
With the  lifting  of the State of Public Health Emergency in the country due to COVID-19, Gorospe said  tourist arrivals increased largely to visit the tattoo artist in Kalinga. Some drug  traffickers  though in the guise as  local tourists, smuggle  marijuana out of the province.

Recent apprehensions of  individuals transporting the contraband involved tourists visiting  the area.   

The incessant  anti-drug operations like MJ eradications and establishment of checkpoints and interdiction operations will bring difficulty among MJ cultivators and traffickers, she claimed.
 
Gorospe also reported  seven remaining drug-affected barangays in the province.
 
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology reported that there are 73 drug offenders committed to the Tabuk District Jail on the 3rd quarter months of this year, the highest in number among  Persons Deprived of Liberty(PDLs).

The Provincial DOH Office on August 22 supplied the Tabuk District Jail of drug test kits and urine sample containers for the conduct of random drug tests on BJMP personnel and inmates. This initiative by BJMP-Tabuk aims to enhance the facility's role as a place of new beginnings for PDLs particularly those facing drug-related charges. (JDP/PAB-PIA CAR, Kalinga)