3 shabu peddlers busted in PDEA Maguindanao del Norte sting

COTABATO CITY — Three men who had long been under surveillance for distributing shabu and marijuana in remote areas of Central Mindanao were caught in an entrapment operation by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, on Monday, April 21.

Agents of the PDEA-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao had seized P408,000 worth of shabu from the suspects, Albasir Adjiz, Saudi Ali and Mohedin Silongan, during a tradeoff in Barangay Awang in Datu Odin Sinsuat.

Local officials told reporters on Tuesday, April 22, that they want Adjiz, Ali and Silongan also investigated for their reported links with motorcycle thieves operating in Maguindanao del Norte and nearby barangays in Cotabato City.

Gil Cesario Castro, director of the PDEA-BARMM, on Tuesday said that all three suspects yielded peacefully when they learned that they had sold their illegal merchandise to non-uniformed anti-narcotics agents at one spot in Barangay Awang, a commercial hub in Datu Odin Sinsuat, near the Cotabato Airport. 

Castro said the entrapment operation that led to the arrest of the three suspects and the seizure of P408,000 worth of shabu was conducted with the support of various units under the Police Regional Office–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, led by its regional director, Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz.

Adjiz, Ali and Silongan are now detained at the PDEA-BARMM facility in the PC Hill area of Cotabato City.