DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao–Backed by soldiers and policemen, agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Thursday arrested two people, including an alleged Moro rebel, and seized more than PHP1-million worth of illegal drugs in an anti-drug operation here.
Juvenal Azurin, PDEA regional director in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-ARMM), identified the suspects as Thor Dalundong Sela, 35, and Mael Guiamad Kamid alias Mayon, 43.
Sela is an alleged member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), while Kamid, a farmer, is listed as a high-value target (HVT) drug personality in this province.
Azurin on Friday said the suspects were arrested after they sold suspected “shabu” to a PDEA-ARMM informant along the national highway in Barangay Dalican, Datu Odin Sinsuat.
“We have been on their trail in the past two weeks. They were very elusive, but they cannot evade the law forever,” Azurin said.
Seized from the suspects were 175 grams of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as “shabu”, packed in four sachets with an estimated worth of PHP1.2 million, marked money, and a cellular phone containing text messages involving the suspects’ drug transactions.
The suspects were arrested by joint PDEA-ARMM operatives, backed by soldiers of the Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion, Datu Odin Sinsuat policemen, and the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council.
Charges for violation of Republic Act No. 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, will be filed against the suspects, who are detained at the lockup of PDEA-ARMM. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
