Soldier, cop girlfriend busted in illegal firearms deal in Cotabato

Cotabato map | INQUIRER.net

COTABATO CITY — Police arrested a soldier and his policewoman girlfriend in an illegal firearms tradeoff in Pigcawayan, Cotabato province over the weekend.

Lt. Colonel Ariel Huesca, regional director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection (CIDG) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), said Army Corporal Jaafar Sabturaon III, 33, and his girlfriend, Patrolwoman Irish De Emoy, 28, were caught redhanded during an Oplan Paglalansag Omega operation in Barangay Tubon, Pigcawayan town on Saturday, April 6.

Sabturaon is assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 7th Infantry Division while Emoy is assigned to the Regional Personnel Holding and Accounting Section (RPHAS) of the Soccsksargen police.

Oplan Paglalansag Omega was launched by the CIDG along with the Maguindanao provincial police and Pigcawayan town police.

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Huesca told the Inquirer that the two had been selling guns and ammunition for months but they were still investigating if they had links to a syndicate operating in the region.

“The army officer admitted that he sells firearms due to financial trouble,” Huesca said.

Recovered from the two were calibers 5.56 mm and 45 pistols, magazines and ammunitions, boodle money amounting to P119,000, two Honda CRF 150 motorcycles, and cellular phones.

The police report indicated that the suspects initially planned the transaction in Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao del Norte but later decided to move it to Barangay Tubon, “to deter apprehension.”

Major Andrew Linao, spokesperson of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), assured the public that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) would not tolerate one of its men’s illegal activities, once proven.

“We will cooperate with other law enforcement agencies in the proper conduct of the investigation and impose appropriate sanctions and punishments on the suspects, if found guilty,” Linao said.

Both suspects are now detained at the CIDG custodial facility in the BARMM and will be charged for violation of Republic Act 10591 or unlawful sale of firearms and ammunition.