COTABATO CITY – Seven persons, including three alleged Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members, were arrested during anti-drug operation Thursday in Wao, Lanao del Sur, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency–Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA–ARMM)) said Friday.
Juvenal Azurin, PDEA-ARMM regional director, identified the arrested MILF members in the law enforcement operation in Barangay Kili-kili, Wao, as Panarangin Tangurak, Abul Batong-Gara and Olomodin Tubigan.
Also arrested were Baisah Ali, Esmael Antar, Casanor Balangitaw, and Ogay Mundas, all listed as local drug peddlers.
“The three MILF members were high-value targets on our list,” Azurin said in an interview by newsmen here Friday, in which he also lauded the support provided by Wao officials to the agency’s successful operation.
Armed with six search warrants, PDEA agents, backed by the Wao police and members of the Army’s 34th Infantry Battalion, swooped on the village of Kili-kili at 3:55 a.m. and caught the suspects by surprise.
Seized by the raiding were 35 grams of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) with an estimated street value of P288,000 and other drug paraphernalia.
The suspects, currently detained at the PDEA-ARMM lock-up cell here, are facing charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. (PNA)
