Mother, son nabbed in drug buy-bust operation in Maguindanao

MANILA, Philippines — A mother-and-son team was been arrested after they allegedly tried to sell  methamphetamine hydrochloride, or “shabu,” to an undercover agent in Maguindanao province, a Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) official said Friday.

In a belated report, PDEA Director General Undersecretary Jose Gutierrez Jr. said that 50-year-old Dingala Bandong Salim, a.k.a “Ding”, and her 36-year-old son from a previous marriage, Mike Bandong Sabdulla, were arrested by authorities in a joint operation with the military Tuesday for selling a small sachet of shabu to the agent.

Along with the money used for the entrapment operation, two more medium-sized sachets containing suspected shabu, and various drug paraphernalia, were also recovered from the suspects.

Further investigation revealed that mother and son were also responsible for drug trade in Cotabato City.

Appropriate charges for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 were filed against the suspects before the Maguindanao Provincial Prosecution Office. They are presently detained at the PDEA ARMM jail facility in PC Hill, Cotabato City. Jamie Elona