Misuari follower nabbed in Lanao del Sur

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines - Government operatives on Sunday arrested in Picong town in the province a follower of Nur Misuari for possession of P300,000 worth of shabu, six assault rifles, and an M-60 machinegun.

The suspect, Commander Maminta Ali, is a senior leader of a faction in the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) identified with Misuari.

Felimon Ruiz, regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Ali  did not resist arrest when the latter sensed that PDEA agents have surrounded his hideout and  ready to pounce on him.

Also arrested, along with Ali, was a militiaman named Alinor Sampurna, who was with him at his lair in Barangay Liangan in Picong, a coastal town in the second district of Lanao del Sur. 

Local officials confirmed that Ali is a staunch follower of Misuari, founder of the MNLF.

Ali was listed as one of the “top three priority targets” of the PDEA in the autonomous region, according to Ruiz.

“It's good they did not resist [arrest]. They had high-powered firearms,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz said they learned of the location of Ali’s hideout from local and barangay officials.

Ruiz said agents found inside Ali’s hideout five M-16 assault rifles, an AK 47 Kalashnikov, and an M-60 machinegun.  - John Unson