KIDAPAWAN CITY – Anti-narcotics agents, backed by soldiers and police, raided on Monday a state college in North Cotabato, arrested five staff members of the school president and seized almost P500,000 worth of prohibited drugs and high powered firearms.
The raiding team, led by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), seized 13 assorted high powered firearms from the home of Dr. Samson L. Molao, president of Cotabato Foundation College for Science and Technology (CFCST) in Doroluman, Arakan, North Cotabato.
Arakan, a mountain town in North Cotabato is about 164 kilometers from Cotabato City or about a three-hour drive.
Molao was not in the house during the raid, but PDEA agents, backed by police and Army, recovered from the staff house assorted firearms and ammunition, including AK-47, M-14 and M-16 Armalite rifles.
Director Valente Cariño of PDEA-12 and Levi Ortiz, the director of Special Enforcement Service of PDEA central office, led the operation at past 3 a.m. Monday.
They were armed with search warrant issued by Judge Alandrex Betoya of the Regional Trial Court based in Kabacan, North Cotabato.
Ortiz said joint police, PDEA agents and the military were now hunting down Molao who was reportedly out of town during the raid.
“We came here all the way from Manila because there is very strong information about the involvement of the school president in illegal drugs trade,” Ortiz told reporters. Ortiz has appealed to Molao to surrender and prove his innocence in court. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
