Drug trafficker feigns injuries from escape attempt in North Cotabato

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - A drug trafficker arrested over the weekend in Magpet town feigned as gunshot wounds and torture marks the injuries he sustained in a daring attempt to escape while being transported by policemen to a local detention facility.

Barangay officials said the suspect, Marlon Polino, was badly hurt when he jumped into a cliff from a police car, in an attempt to run away.

Polino has since been spreading stories purporting that the policemen who arrested him in Magpet had shot and tortured him after he was cornered in his hideout last weekend.

Barangay officials said Polino sustained puncture wounds when he fell into bamboo trees with sharp twigs when he jumped into a cliff along the highway.

Senior Superintendent Alex Tagum, director of the North Cotabato police, said none of the policemen who arrested Polino had shot him for trying to escape from their custody.

“We don’t torture arrested offenders and hardened criminals,” said Tagum, who ranted about spreading stories and text messages saying they maltreated Polino after his arrest.

Polino had told reporters he sustained gunshot wounds when policemen tried to kill him while being transported to a detention facility for interrogation.

Local officials, however, said Polino just invented stories to discredit the police.

Polino was involved in large-scale drug trafficking in Magpet and nearby towns in North Cotabato.