Alleged gunrunner nabbed in Maguindanao del Sur; 4 guns, ammo seized

COTABATO CITY — Police authorities seized four caliber .45 pistols and hundreds of ammunition for various guns from an alleged gunrunner who was arrested during an entrapment operation in Maguindanao del Sur on Saturday.

Lt. Colonel Ariel Huesca, regional chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (CIDG-BARMM), identified the suspected firearms trader as Kagui Kautin, 49, of Barangay Kitango, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur.

Huesca said Kautin agreed to sell four caliber .45 pistols and ammunition to an undercover agent during a buy-bust operation at 10 a.m.

Now detained at CIDG detention facility, Kautin is awaiting the filing of charges for violation of RA 10591 for “unlawful sale of firearms and ammunition.”

It was the third successful operation of CIDG-BARMM in the past six days.

On Thursday, CIDG agents arrested a certain Bayan Abu of Barangay Rosary Heights Mother, Cotabato City, for selling a 5.56mm rifle, two caliber .45 pistols, and ammunition.

On Feb. 10, CIDG-BARMM operatives also arrested a police officer of the Maguindanao del Norte police provincial office and a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for selling three long firearms to a poseur buyer.

Huesca said the arrested suspects had been placed under close surveillance for more than two weeks before their arrest.

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