3 arrested for possession of gun, meth in Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur—Police arrested three persons here on Wednesday night (Aug. 11) for possession of a gun and several sachets of crystal meth or shabu, but only after a chase in the sea.

Major Shellamae Chang, spokesperson of the Zamboanga Peninsula police office, said the three were earlier spotted on a motorized wooden seacraft by authorities on seaborne patrol.

When the police troops got near them, the three sped off towards Sacol Island.

When caught, the authorities seized from them a caliber .45 pistol with two magazines and seven bullets, 35 sachets of varying sizes containing suspected meth, plastic pipes, digital weighing scale, and disposable lighters.

Chang identified the three suspects as Zuiber Ismael Kamlian, 48, of Tumalutap Island, Zamboanga City; Adam Hassan Baduwi, 44, also from Tumalutap Island; and Ester Jailani Abdulgapar, 46, of Siasi, Sulu.

Chang said there is a strong possibility that the three were hawking meth in a fishing village of Sacol Island.

On Thursday morning, the three suspects were turned over to the Zamboanga City Police Station 4 while the gun and meth were turned over to the Regional Crime Laboratory 9 for ballistic and chemical examination, respectively.