2 MILF members arrested for alleged gun-running in Marawi City

Agents of the CIDG arrested in separate operations in Marawi City, two MILF members. (Photo courtesy of CIDG-BARMM).

COTABATO CITY – Agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) arrested on Monday afternoon after separate entrapment operations, two members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for allegedly selling firearms in Marawi City.

Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Huesca, CIDG-BARMM regional chief, identified one of the two suspects as Sehawi Dianalan Ibrahim, 49, said to be deputy commander of a brigade of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces which is currently undergoing decommissioning in keeping with a 2014 peace deal that aims to put the group’s corps of combatants and their weapons beyond use.

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Ibrahim was arrested after he handed over a 9mm pistol, a 5.56 rifle and ammunition to a police undercover agent in a parking area of a hospital in Barangay Poblacion, Marawi City around 3 p.m., Huesca said.

On the same day, Johaiver Banto Ariong, 32, said to be a BIAF battalion commander, was also arrested inside the school compound of the Mindanao State University.

Agents of the CIDG arrested in separate operations in Marawi City, two MILF members. (Photo courtesy of CIDG-BARMM).

Ariong sold unlicensed guns to another CIDG asset that led to the recovery of an M16 rifle, a caliber .45 pistol, magazines and ammunition.

The suspects’ BIAF affiliation was based on identification cards they carried.

“These recovered guns possibly came from the MILF also, and they’ve been into several gun-selling transactions based on our monitoring,” Huesca said.

The suspects are now detained at the CIDG jail facility in Lanao del Sur and will be charged for gun law violation.