Teacher, councilor nabbed in central Mindanao anti-narco ops

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Authorities seized P6.8 million worth of shabu from a teacher and three others who fell in a sting Friday in Datu Odin Sinsuat town.

Juvenal Azurin, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Saturday they are now in custody of the suspects, Salma Talib, who is a public school teacher and her accomplices, Saiden Yusa, Mahmod Dimudtang and Nasser Pasawilan.

Azurin said they shall be prosecuted for violation of Republic Act 9165 using the P6.8 million worth of shabu they unsuspectingly turned over to PDEA-ARMM agents, disguised as buyers, as evidence.

The RA 9165, also known as the Philippine Dangerous Drugs Act, prohibits sale or possession of narcotics and other regulated substances.

The four suspects were entrapped in the premises of a gasoline station along a stretch of the Cotabato-Isulan Highway in Barangay Awang in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao.

Their arrest was preceded by the PDEA-ARMM operation early this week in Balabagan, Lanao del Sur that led to the detention of a municipal councilor there named Abedin Disalongan.

Disalongan is an incumbent member of the Sangguniang Bayan in Balabagan, a seaside town in the second district of Lanao del Sur.

PDEA-ARMM agents found shabu in one of the rooms of his house in Balabagan, searched based on a warrant issued by a local court.

Azurin said their operation that resulted in the arrest of Disalongan was assisted by personnel of the Regional Police Office-ARMM and the Army’s 603rd Brigade.

“The operation was carried out according to legal procedures. We operated based on information relayed to us by vigilant residents of Balabagan confirming that he was keeping shabu in his house,” Azurin said.

Besides shabu, the PDEA-ARMM raiding team also found in his house an M16 assault rifle and two 9 millimeter pistols without valid licenses.

"He (Disalongan) was also separately sued for illegal possession of firearms," Azurin said Saturday.