2 soldiers wounded in Maguindanao drug raid

Soldiers prepare to jump from an Army truck during operations. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

COTABATO CITY – Two soldiers were wounded in an Army-led antidrug operation in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao, on Saturday.

Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, commander of the 33rd Infantry Battalion (IB), led the pre-dawn operation in Barangay Lipao here against Abdulatip Pendaliday alias Commander “Grass Cutter” and 15 of his men.

Pendaliday, one of suspected bigtime drug lords in Maguindanao, surrendered to the police last year at the height of “Oplan Tokhang.”

Cabunoc said elements of 33rd IB and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-ARMM) raided two safe houses of Pendaliday in the middle of a banana plantation at about 4 a.m.

A 15-minute fire fight ensued. The suspects, including Pendaliday, were able to flee, but two of his followers were wounded and arrested. Two soldiers were also wounded in the fighting.

Government forces found more than P500,000 worth of prohibited drugs, paraphernalia, cash and an M-16 assault rifle in the shanties where, according to Cabunoc, Pendaliday conducted his illegal drug business.

“His clients go to the middle of the plantation to avoid detection by government forces,” Cabunoc said.

Pendaliday, Cabunoc said, earlier yielded to police during the “Oplan Tokhang” but  apparently returned to his trade. CBB/rga