DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao — Anti-narcotics agents arrested on Wednesday a college student during an anti-drug operation that led to the confiscation of more than P2.5 million worth of illegal drugs.
Director Juvenal Azurin of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-ARMM) identified the suspect as Raffy Osama, 22, a resident of Barangay Bagua in Cotabato City.
Azurin said Osama was arrested after he handed over a sachet of shabu to a PDEA agent who acted as a buyer around 1:30 p.m. in Barangay Upper Capiton here. Barangay Upper Capiton is about 500 meters away from the headquarters of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.
“He was our high value target, we have placed him under surveillance for two months,” Azurin said of Osama, who was driving a multi-cab vehicle at the time of his arrest.
Osama did not disembark from the vehicle when he handed over the stuff to the buyer. PDEA agents on board a van waited nearby and quickly arrested Osama as he handed over the illegal drugs.
In his sling bag, the PDEA operatives — backed by local policemen — recovered about 500 grams of shabu in 10 heat-sealed sachets, estimated to be P2.5 million, and the marked money. He did not resist arrest.
“He was in the PDEA-ARMM watch list, he is a high value target,” Azurin said, adding that follow-up operations were continuing to identify the persons Osama had worked for.
The arrest of Osama came two days after PDEA agents nabbed an alleged member of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and two others in an anti-drug operation in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato
Nabbed in Barangay Poblacion, Pigcawayan were 47-year-old Mohammad Tuankali Macalimpas and his companions, Samsodin Kato, 30, and Noraida Samaon Alamada, 20.
Seized from them were a hand gun, shabu worth more than P2.5-million, and paraphernalia.
Charges for violations of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 are being prepared against Osama, now detained at the PDEA-ARMM lock up cell in Cotabato City. /je