Gunmen abduct captain off Basilan

ZAMBOANGA City, Philippines - Heavily armed men intercepted a fishing boat and abducted its captain in waters off Lantawan town, Basilan province on Tuesday.

A report from the Basilan provincial police headquarters identified the victim as Lucio Gonzales, patron of the Albert Fishing Boat, who is based in Barangay Cawit, this city.

Investigation disclosed that the fishing boat was passing through the coast of Basilan when they were intercepted by the 15 gunmen at around 8 a.m Tuesday. The gunmen were onboard two Jungkungs, a Malaysian-style shallow hulled pumpboat.

The fishing boat's crewmen told investigating policemen that the gunmen gunmen seized their vessel and herded them in a corner before snatching their captain.

The suspects fled on board their jungkungs towards the direction of Sulu province.

Pursuit operations have been launched for the arrest of the suspects and the recovery of the abducted captain.