'Gunrunner' security guard of BARMM agency busted

COTABATO CITY— Agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group clamped down a security guard in an agency of the Bangsamoro government after selling to them an M16 assault rifle in an entrapment operation in Cotabato City on Tuesday.

Brig. Gen. Prexy Tanggawohn, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Thursday morning that the suspect, Teng Dris Camer, is now detained. He is awaiting prosecution for violation of the Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act that prohibits possession, or sale of firearms, ammunition and explosives without permission from the national government.

Camer, reportedly of mixed Maguindanaon and Iranun descent, worked as a security guard in the office of the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Energy-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Tanggawohn said Camer, a resident of Barangay Sarmiento in Parang, Maguindanao del Sur was immediately arrested and detained by agents of the CIDG-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, led by Police Lt. Col. Ariel Huesca, after selling to them an M16 assault rifle for P119,000 in a tradeoff in Barangay Rosary Heights 7 in Cotabato City on Tuesday afternoon.

The sting that led to Camer's arrest was laid by Huesca and his subordinates with the help of confidential informants and his co-workers long aware of his gunrunning activities.

Huesca, in a report to Tanggawohn’s office, said besides the assault rifle that Camer sold to them, they have also seized the red Suzuki car that he used in delivering firearms to buyers.