Police: Maguindanao peddlers behind shabu proliferation in Mindanao
DIGOS CITY – Police authorities in central and southern Mindanao regions said it was becoming more apparent that Maguindanao-based drug syndicates were behind the proliferation of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) in many Mindanao areas.
In Davao del Sur for example, majority of those arrested for selling drugs had confirmed that Maguindanao-based drug traders had supplied them of the illegal merchandise, Senior Supt. Michael John Dubria, Davao del Sur police director, said.
Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said he was supportive of the efforts the authorities in Maguindanao and those outside of the province were making to pin down drug traffickers.
He said he wished that authorities could build up “air-tight cases” against suspected drug lords and their minions.
“I am one with authorities in trying to curb this illegal activity. I hope they could come up with solid evidence against suspects and identify and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” Mangudadatu added.
Dubria said the confessions extracted from arrested suspects had led the police authorities in the province to conclude that there are syndicates operating in Maguindanao – whose areas of distribution
included nearby provinces as Davao del Sur.
Supt. Querubin Manalang, Digos City police chief, among those suspected to be a member of a Maguindanao-based drug syndicate was Samuel Demanalao, who was arrested here on Friday.
Manalang said Demanalao had confessed that his source was from Maguindanao when he was arrested here during a buy-bust operation. The suspect yielded suspected shabu worth P18,000 when collared, he said.
“The suspect is a member of one syndicate operating here from the nearby province of Maguindanao,” he said.
Dubria said Demanalao was the fourth suspected drug traders arrested here, whose source of shabu was Maguindanao-based groups.
On Monday, Abdul Sakilan, 48; Otiak Botto, 46; and Mokajer Baliwan, 30; all residents of Barangay Kilada in Matalam, North Cotabato, were also arrested here for allegedly selling shabu.
The Criminal Detection and Investigation Group regional office in Southern Mindanao also reported the arrest of another suspected drugs trader, who gets his supply from Maguindanao.
Senior Supt. Joel Pernito, regional CIDG head, said the connections of Pimping Linog, 57, were still being established.
The Maguindanao connection also surfaced in the arrest of Jamaro Maruhom, 42, in Kidapawan City in North Cotabato on Thursday, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central
Mindanao.
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