Cops arrest 3 top drug suspects after clash

KIDAPAWAN CITY—Police on Tuesday arrested three suspected drug dealers in a remote village in Maguindanao.

Agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (Cidu) based in North Cotabato also seized high powered firearms, ammunition and grenades from suspects Thong Usup, Kamarudin Bualan and Kudzak Pusdan, all residents of Barangay (village) Damalusay, Datu Paglas, Maguindanao.

Chief Inspector Elmer Guevarra, head of Cidu in North Cotabato, said his unit was backed by soldiers from the 44th and 45th

infantry battalions and the Maguindanao police during the raid at 7 a.m.

Guevarra said the raiding team was armed with an arrest warrant for a certain Ebrahim Ayada, alias “Brando,” issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 14 Judge Bansawan Ebrahim.

Ayada managed to escape while his three cohorts were cornered following a brief gunfight, Guevarra said.

The raiding team recovered from Ayada’s house in Barangay Damalusay a cal. 50 machine gun, ammunition, two hand grenades, 15 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as “shabu,” and shabu paraphernalia.

“The group was responsible for the proliferation of illegal drugs in Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces,” Guevarra said, quoting police intelligence reports.

Speaking to reporters, Thong Usop denied he and two others were involved in the drug trade.

“We were just visiting Ayada’s home,” he said.

But Guevarra said the three traded shots with the arresting team.

“We recovered the shabu from the refrigerator inside Ayada’s home,” said Guevarra. “There could be more in the house,” he said.

The suspects face drug and illegal gun charges. Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao