2 drug suspects fall, P1.7-M shabu seized in Maguindanao

DATU ODIN SINSUAT, MAGUINDANAO – Anti-narcotics operatives on Wednesday arrested two big-time drug peddlers and seized P1.7 million worth of prohibited drugs during an operation in Barangay Kurintem here.

Director Juvenal Azurin of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-ARMM) told the INQUIRER the suspects belonged to a big-time drug group operating in Maguindanao and nearby areas.

Azurin named the arrested as Mohamidin Ambak Sandigo, 28, market security guard, and a resident of Datu Odin Sinsuat, and Sammy Ali Panalangin, 23, motorcycle mechanic and a resident of Midtimbang, Maguindanao.

Azurin said a week-long negotiation for the purchase of P5,000 worth of shabu preceded the 6:30 p.m. buy-bust operation in Barangay Kurintem.

The PDEA agent arrested the two as soon as they handed over the illegal stuff to the agent. The third suspect eluded arrest by running towards populated areas along the national highway.

Seized from them were five huge sachets of shabu estimated to be worth  P1.7 million, a mobile phone used in illegal transactions and two motorbikes without license plates and registration documents.

Charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 were being prepared against the suspects who are now jailed at the PDEA detention facility in Cotabato City.