Cops seize 8 assault rifles at Maguindanao Sur checkpoint

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A police team foiled on Thursday night an attempt by a suspected illegal gun dealer to transport eight M16 assault rifles from Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur to somewhere in nearby Sultan Kudarat province.

Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, announced on Saturday the interception in Barangay Meta in Datu Unsay, Maguindanao del Sur of the firearms piled, covered with tarpaulin, on the cargo deck of the Toyota Hilux pick-up truck of Zermin Talusog, now detained.

Talusog, a resident of Barangay Masigay in Datu Piang, shall be prosecuted for violation of Republic Act 10591 that prohibits possession and sale of firearms and explosives without clearance from the Philippine National Police.

Nobleza said personnel of the Datu Unsay Municipal Police Station at a checkpoint along a stretch of the Maguindanao del Sur-Sultan Kudarat Highway immediately blocked the route when they noticed that Talusog was jittery and twice turned his sight to the rear of his vehicle where the eight M16 rifles were placed.

Members of the Datu Unsay MPS immediately detained him when they discovered that his pick-up truck was loaded with firearms.

Talusog had readily confessed to probers that he was on his way then to Sultan Kudarat province, whose town closest to Datu Unsay is Esperanza, less than 20 kilometers away.

In a report to Nobleza on Friday, the Maguindanao Provincial Police Office said the Datu Unsay MPS also held for questioning Zaipah Andal, a candidate for barangay councilor in Masigay, who was driving a Toyota Fortuner trailing behind Talusog’s pick-up truck where policemen found the unlicensed assault rifles.