P6.7-M shabu seized in Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Policemen prevented Monday night an attempt to smuggle in P6.7 million worth of shabu by a couple from Talitay town in Maguindanao.

Senior Superintendent Rolen Balquin, director of the Cotabato City police, said they learned of the attempt by Tato Felmin to transport a kilo of shabu into the city from confidential informants.

Balquin said Felmin and his wife, Alma, and their companion named Fahad Guiamad, were intercepted at Barangay Balabaran, the city’s southern gateway to Maguindanao.

The suspects, who were riding an Isuzu light truck bound for the city proper, did not resist when asked to disembark for inspection.

Police operatives found the shabu inside a compartment in the shoulder bag of Felmin.

Balquin said the suspects had been turned over to the regional office here of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for interrogation, adding that the city police will help the PDEA build an airtight case against Felmin and his accomplices.

Felimon Ruiz, PDEA’s regional director for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said the estimated P6.7 million worth of Shabu policemen had seized from the suspects was to be distributed to local dealers.

“We ought to thank the informants that helped the police intercept them while on their way to the city,” Ruiz said.

Highly placed Army intelligence sources said the shabu Felmin and his companions were to bring in came from an interior district at the border of Maguindanao’s adjoining Talitay and Talayan towns.