5 drug den operators busted in Maguindanao del Sur

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Policemen clamped down five drug den operators, all reportedly linked to two local terror groups, in an entrapment operation in Barangay Pidsandawan in Radjah Buayan, Maguindanao del Sur on Saturday, July 5.

Brig. Gen. Jaysen De Guzman, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Sunday, June 6, that all five suspects are now in their custody, to be prosecuted for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The suspects were immediately detained by personnel of the Radjah Buayan Municipal Police Station, led by Capt. Argie Eyena, and operatives from the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police Office under Col. Sultan Salman Sapal after selling to them P55,000 worth of shabu during an entrapment operation in the premises of their drug den in Barangay Pidsandawan.

Local officials and traditional Moro leaders had reported that all five suspects remitted fractions of their earnings to the remaining leaders of the now weakened allies Dawlah Islamiya and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which are both known for providing sanctuary to drug traffickers and suspects in heinous crimes that have pending cases in local courts.

De Guzman said policemen also found in their hideout, where they facilitated pot sessions and sold shabu to buyers from across Radjah Buayan, drug sniffing paraphernalia and a weighing scale that they used in repacking their illegal merchandise in small sealed sachets.

De Guzman said the entrapment operation that led to the five suspects was based on reports by municipal officials and Moro community elders about their drug trafficking activities in Radjah Buayan.