Cops arrest Maute group bomb maker

Mohammad Noaim Maute. PHOTO from PNP

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Police said on Thursday they had arrested a relative of the leaders of the Islamic State (IS)-allied terrorists battling government forces in Marawi City.

Chief Supt. Agripino Javier, police chief for northern Mindanao, said Mohammad Noaim Maute, 22, of Butig, Lanao del Sur province, was a bomb maker of the Maute group and a cousin of the terrorist group’s leaders, brothers Omarkhayam and Abdullah Maute.

Aliases

The Maute brothers are believed to be in Marawi leading the fight for an IS enclave in the Philippines.

Their parents were taken into custody last week in separate cities.

Javier said the Maute bomb maker also went by the names Abu Jadid and Almahid Pangompig, Javier said.

He said Maute carried a fake Mindanao State University identification card that showed his name was Alfaiz Mamintal.

Maute was arrested by a  team of police, military and intelligence agents outside a house in Sitio Sta. Cruz, Barangay Macasandig, in this city where he rented a room.

He was taken to the Macasandig police station before being transported to the regional police headquarters in Camp Alagar, Cagayan de Oro City.

He is among the people listed in Arrest Order No. 1 issued by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the administrator of martial law in Mindanao.

Javier said Maute did not resist arrest.

He said Maute was unarmed and carried nothing illegal when he was arrested.

Surveillance

Javier said the authorities had been monitoring Maute’s movements since he came to the city about two weeks ago.

Maute posed as an Arabic teacher, Javier said.

A tip from a civilian led the authorities to Maute’s location.

Javier said the authorities began closing in on Maute three days ago after gathering evidence, mostly messages and calls Maute had made on at least five cell phones he owned.

He said Maute had been able to get past police and military checkpoints using his fake university ID.

Maute also had posed as an evacuee, mingled with people displaced by the fighting in Marawi.

Intelligence officers verified Maute’s identity using a facial recognition software, Javier said.

The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (Nica) also confirmed Maute’s identity, Javier added.

“We had to make sure, that’s why we waited for confirmation from [Nica] before we presented him to the media,” he said.

Javier said the authorities were also searching for Maute’s companions believed to be already in Cagayan de Oro.

Maute denied he was a bomb maker and a member of the Maute group.

“I am not a member of the Maute family. They just accused me as a bomber. I am not part of it. I am not a bomber,” Maute told reporters. —WITH REPORTS FROM JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE