The evidence found in Police Patrolman Alrajhi Londo Hadji Yasser’s vehicle. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO from RPO-BARMM
ILIGAN CITY – Police in Lanao del Sur arrested one of their own for possession of an unlicensed gun and of suspected shabu at a checkpoint in Marantao, Lanao del Sur on Wednesday.
Police Brigadier-General Graciano Mijares, director of the Regional Police Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (RPO-BARMM), said Patrolman Alrajhi Londo Hadji Yasser, 34, faced charges for violation of the election gun ban and of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Yasser, who is assigned at the municipal police station of Pantao Ragat in Lanao del Norte, was driving his car when flagged down by members of Marantao Police, led by town police chief Major Nelson Madiwo, at a checkpoint in Barangay Pagalongan at 3 p.m. on April 10.
Mijares said the police politely requested Yasser to open his car’s window for plain view inspection but the suspect instead tried to pull out his gun. He was subdued by other police officers.
Police also arrested Yasser’s companion identified as Sowaib Baraocor Boransing, 29, a resident of Barangay Campong Inudaran, Marantao town.
Police also allegedly found upon inspection an unlicensed gun, an Uzi 9-mm machine pistol, and seven sachets of suspected shabu in Yasser’s car, a Toyota Revo.
Several identification cards, including that from the Philippine National Police, an upper GOA “C” uniform with nameplate MAMLE with pant, athletic uniform, RIG belt, and ball cap were also recovered from Yasser’s vehicle.
Yasser and his companion are now detained at the Marantao police station. Charges have been filed against them before the provincial prosecutor’s office on Thursday.
Madiwo, in a separate interview, said Yasser had been under surveillance for almost a year now because of his alleged involvement in illegal drugs but they never had strong evidence to get him until his vehicle passed by their checkpoint by chance.
“Hindi sana namin i-hold pero iba ang actuation niya nang na-checkpoint. Guilty talaga! Muntik pa ngang tumakas. Nagpakilala na pulis. Nung tinanong namin bakit nag u-turn, bumunot ng baril, so inaresto na namin bago sin-search,” Madiwo said in a phone interview.
(We had no plan to hold him but his actuation showed he was trying to hide something. We introduced ourselves as policemen but when we asked him why he made a U-turn, he tried to pull out his gun. So we arrested him before we searched his car.)
Yasser, a resident of Barangay Bubong Madanding of Marantao, was dismissed from the service in 2017 for ‘serious neglect of duty’ after he went on absence without official leave. But he was reinstated in 2018. Madiwo said. /lzb