Maguindanao mayor eludes arrest; kin nabbed for drugs

TACURONG CITY—A Maguindanao mayor, who had been suspected of being a big-time drug lord, eluded arrest on Saturday but 15 relatives of his were not as fortunate during an antidrug operation in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, which netted some P1.2 million worth of illegal drugs, the police said.

Senior Supt. Raul Supiter, Sultan Kudarat provincial police chief, said a special police unit conducted a raid on a house in Barangay Kalawag I in Isulan around 4:30 a.m. in a bid to arrest the mayor, whom he would not identify.

Supiter said the raid, backed by warrant, was staged after weeks of surveillance.

But the said mayor and his trusted aide managed to elude arrest, he said.

Instead, the raiding team found 15 persons inside the house and packets of “shabu” worth about P1.2 million.

Asked how “big-time” the said mayor was, Supiter said there were reports that he operated a shabu laboratory in his town.

“We are conducting follow-up operations. In the meantime he will not be identified,” Supiter said.

All 15 suspects, including house owners Makee and Amina Tamondong, were being temporarily held under police custody as charges were being prepared against them, he said.