Authorities hunt down cop who eluded drug bust in Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines — Authorities are hunting down a police officer who was able to elude arrest in a drug buy-bust operation here.

Brig. Gen. Ronaldo Ylagan, chief of the Zamboanga Peninsula Police Regional Office, said Patrolman Jidkhan Hasani Raji, presently assigned at 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMFC) in Zamboanga Sibugay, was among the three subjects of an anti-drug raid in Barangay Cawit on Monday night (June 7).

A combined team of police officers and marines conducted the buy-bust operation at around 10:30 p.m. and caught Nasher Hassan Abdulkadil, also known as Nash, and Alhisar Bairulla Nawadil. Seized from them was a kilo of crystal meth.

It was not yet known how Raji was able to elude arrest.

Abdulkadil, 65, is a vendor in Basilan and Nawadil, a native of Jolo, Sulu, works as a security guard at the Port of Zamboanga City.

Authorities also seized a 9 mm pistol, two magazines, 14 live ammunition, one plastic bag containing 11 bundles of marked 1,000-peso bills used as boodle money, and a Ford Ranger pick-up.

Ylagan lauded the efforts of the Zamboanga City Police Station 1 personnel under Maj. Jamar Tagayan, together with the Zamboanga City Mobile Force Company, led by Lt. Col. Reynalde Ariño, for the arrest of the two drug dealers.

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