Cotabato cops seize P1.8-M worth shabu from murder suspect

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A police team seized P1.8 million worth of shabu found in the hideout in Barangay Tukakanes in Cotabato City of a man wanted for murder, arrested at dusk Wednesday, March 19.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Thursday, March 20, that the suspect, Abu Karinggi, is now locked in a detention facility in Cotabato City of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Karinggi, who is facing a murder case in one of the courts in Cotabato City, was jailed in 2012 for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao assisted the operation that resulted in his arrest and confiscation from him of P1.8 million worth of shabu.

Combined operatives of the CIDG-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, led by its regional chief, Police Lt. Col. Arbel Mercullo, and personnel of units of the Cotabato City Police Office under Col. Jibin Bongcayao, served Karinggi the warrant for his arrest from one of the courts in Cotabato City where he was charged with murder. He yielded peacefully when he was shown a copy of the warrant, signed by Judge Bansawan Ibrahim.

The policemen and PDEA-BARMM agents who arrested Karringi found shabu in the house, where he was cornered with the help of local officials, in a subsequent search for firearms and other deadly weapons. He readily admitted ownership of the confiscated P1.8 million worth of shabu in the presence of barangay officials and reporters.

Macapaz said the joint operation by the CIDG-BAR and the Cotabato City police force that led to Karinggi’s arrest was based on reports by vigilant residents in Tukananes about his presence in the area and his peddling of shabu among contacts in barangays around.