Ex-Marawi mayor arrested for rebellion also facing drug, gun cases

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur—Former Marawi City Mayor Fajad Salic, who was arrested on Wednesday for rebellion, is facing more charges after a police raid on his house in Cagayan de Oro City found packets of suspected illegal drugs and a rifle and explosives on Thursday night.

A police report said a Martial Law Special Action Group, composed of soldiers, policemen and agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, raided Salic’s house in Barangay (village) Carmen through a search warrant issued by a local judge.

Found in Salic’s house were plastic bags containing what law enforcers believed as shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride), an M-16 rifle, bullets and four pieces of M203 explosives.

READ: Ex-Marawi mayor facing rebellion charges nabbed in Misamis Oriental checkpoint

Police said Salic would be charged with violations of Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002), RA 10591 (Comprehensive Firearm and Ammunition Regulation Act), and RA 9516 (which codified laws on illegal/unlawful possession, manufacture and trade of firearms, ammunition and explosives).

Salic, who was suspected of involvement with the Maute terror group and the siege of Marawi on May 23, was arrested at a checkpoint in Villanueva town in Misamis Oriental province on Wednesday night.

Salic, in a previous interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, denied his involvement in the attack on Marawi, saying he could not support the Maute group since his family and relatives live here./rga