SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 14, 2009) – Security forces raided a marijuana plantation and arrested four people in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, police said on Tuesday.
Police said some 1,500 plants were uprooted in the hinterlands of Talipao town on Monday. It was unknown who was operating the plantation, but a military statement released on Tuesday linked the terrorist Abu Sayyaf group to the illegal farm.
The identities of those arrested were unknown, but police said the four men were being investigated. It was not the first time the military linked the Abu Sayyaf to illegal drugs in Sulu, but there was no evidence the group was involved in selling of marijuana.
The Abu Sayyaf gets most of its funding through kidnappings-for-ransom and the money is often used to finance terrorism in the southern Philippines.
In 2001, the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped 21 mostly Western holidaymakers in a cross-border raid in Malaysia’s eastern state of Sabah and ransomed off the hostages to Libya, which negotiated for the release of the captives. (Mindanao Examiner)
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