Grandma of alleged drug lord busted herself

MANILA, Philippines–It looked like the family enterprise.

The grandmother of a drug syndicate leader operating in Zamboanga City was apprehended last week allegedly in the act of selling shabu to undercover narcotics agents.

Emma Ahmad Abubakar, 56, a resident of Mutia in Zamboanga del Norte, was arrested on Nov. 12 with P80,000 worth of shabu in her possession that she was about to hand over to the agents.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said she was the grandmother of Nadzhul Alih, the leader of a drug syndicate based in Zamboanga City. Alih was once on top of the city’s drug list and was the third-most notorious drug lord in the region.

PDEA Director General Arturo Cacdac Jr. said the agency’s Region IX office carried out the buy-bust operation.

Cacdac said the grandmother was also a member of her grandson’s drug syndicate.

Abubakar’s son and Alih’s father, Nardizabal Alih, was himself previously arrested on drug-related charges in April 2009, which were eventually dismissed by the court.

In April 2012, the PDEA arrested the grandson Alih in Zamboanga City for drug peddling, a nonbailable crime, and drug possession.

A few days later, six members of his gang were arrested after they tried to rescue Alih by blocking a PDEA convoy taking him to a court hearing.

Aside from drug cases, Alih is facing charges of frustrated murder, murder and illegal possession of firearms and explosives from his 2012 arrest.

Cacdac said Abubakar, the grandmother, will be charged with drug peddling and possession under Republic Act No. 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.