Mindanao groups eyed in Negros drug trade

BACOLOD CITY — Police are looking into the possible involvement of groups from Mindanao in the illegal drug trade in Negros Occidental.

This, as two of six suspects arrested last Sunday afternoon in a drug buy-bust at Andrea Village in Cadiz City, 65.2 kilometers north of this city, hail from Mindanao, police said.

Hours after the buy-bust, the Bacolod police nabbed nine Tawi-Tawi residents for possession of high-powered firearms and 230 grams of shabu aboard the M/V Bacolod at the Banago port here.

The raid on the rented house of one Elmer "Habib" Into in Cadiz was an offshoot of a series of drug busts by a Bacolod police team led by Inspector Clarence Dongail that resulted in the seizure of 1.6 kilos of shabu in three weeks.

Police said Into claimed to be a member of the Abu Sayyaf during interrogation.

Senior Superintendent Geary Barias, provincial police director, said two men arrested along with Into — Maribindo and Rodel Demasangcay — may have been members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front since both reside in Lanao del Norte, a known MILF stronghold.

A picture of Rodel in full-battle gear was among the things found in his possession.— Antonieta Lopez