COTABATO CITY -- Anti-narcotics agents here have dismantled a drug den and arrested seven suspects as the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) regional office in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) took another step in the war against illegal drugs.
PDEA Regional Director Juvenal Azurin said a joint police and PDEA operation Thursday led to the arrest of seven people, three of them are in drug watch list, following a drug buy-bust operation at Purok Pinya, Barangay Bagua Mother, Cotabato City.
Arrested were Jose Voltaire Dela Cruz Nogra, Asraf Marjone Bakil, Faisal Saban Andal, Jeff Uy Sadane, Pinandatu Esmael Dumamba, Fahad Dris Mala and Kier Rody Palumbi.
“They were caught in the act of sniffing prohibited drugs in the den,” Azurin said.
But the principal target of the operation, drug den operator Tata Bai Biruar alias Bogs Biruar, eluded arrest after sensing the presence of operatives in the 4 p.m. raid.
Nogra was previously arrested in March this year for violation of the anti-drug law, but gained temporary liberty after posting bail.
Seized during the sting operation were five sachets of suspected shabu, a PhP500 bill marked money, shabu paraphernalia, a home-made .38-caliber revolver and a .45-caliber pistol with ammunition.
Cases for violation RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 are being readied against the suspects while Bogs Biruar will be facing additional charges for violation of Republic Act 10591 (Illegal Possessions of Firearms and Ammunition).
Azurin lauded the civilian informants who provided PDEA and the police with accurate information that led to the arrest of the suspects.
Early on, two big time drug peddlers were arrested by PDEA operatives in separate anti-drug operation that led to the recovery of about PhP5-million worth of shabu.
One of those earlier arrested with PhP2.5 million worth of shabu was Raffy Osama, 22, of Barangay Bagua, Cotabato City, who was nabbed in Barangay Capiton, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.
Juvenal said PDEA's ARMM unit had been monitoring the movement of Osama after community residents and even his relatives tipped off PDEA agents about his activities.
“We are determining the sources of his stuff and to what drug group he belonged,” said Azurin of Osama who later admitted that he had stint as on-the-job trainee of PDEA.
“We were surprised when one of my operative later identified him to be one of our trainees,” he said of Osama, a criminology student.
A day before Osama’s arrest, PDEA agents also collared Mohammad Tuankali Macalimpas, 47 a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and two companions Samsodin Kato following a drug buy-bust operation in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato.
The arrest led to the confiscation of about PHp2.5-M worth of shabu, marked money and a .45-caliber pistol. (PNA) DECEMBER 2017
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Topic: Drug den busted in Cotabato City (Read 268 times)