3 caught in Cotabato City buy-bust

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — State agents seized P340,000 worth of shabu from three alleged traffickers from a nearby town in an entrapment Thursday afternoon.

Juvenal Azurin, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Friday the three men — Datu Fhai Bansuan Midtimbang, Desma Watamama Midtimbang and Datukon Mislay Mohammad — are now detained.

Azurin said the PDEA-BARMM will file a complaint of violation of Republic Act 9165, also known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, against the men.

The suspects were arrested after selling 50 grams of shabu to undercover agents during a sting along a busy thoroughfare in Barangay Rosary Heights 9 past 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Azurin said the operation that led to their arrest was assisted by the Cotabato City police office and the 2nd Marine Battalion, whose personnel are helping secure Cotabato City from terror attacks.

Besides shabu, PDEA-BARMM agents also seized from the Midtimbangs and Mohammad a 9-mm pistol, a white Honda Civic and identification cards.

Azurin said the three are now in the detention facility of PDEA-BARMM.