Cops seize 8 pistols, 2 assault rifles from 3 couriers

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Policemen seized eight pistols and two combat rifles from three couriers intercepted in an operation aided by local executives and Moro datus in Barangay Poblacion 5 in Midsayap, Cotabato on Tuesday, September 1.

Local executives and ranking members of the multi-sector Cotabato Provincial Peace and Order Council, whose presiding chairperson is Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, told reporters on Friday that the three men arrested during the operation, Surafa Kusain Madidis, Norhanodin Ayob Akmad and Jason Ali Tayuan are now detained, to be prosecuted for illegal possession of firearms.

Policemen and local officials found the eight .45 caliber pistols and two M16 rifles and ammunition inside the three vehicles driven each by the suspects, a Mitsubishi Montero, a Toyota Hilux and a Nissan Navara pick-up truck, bearing license plates LAP 4074, AOA 1701 and LAB 3557, respectively.

Officials of units of the Police Regional Office 12 in Cotabato province and Mayor Rolly Sacdalan separately told reporters on Friday that the three vehicles were flagged down in Barangay Poblacion 5 in Midsayap by combined personnel of the Highway Patrol Group 12 and the Midsayap Municipal Police Station after learning from informants about the supposed transport to somewhere by Madidis, Ayob and Tayuan of the 10 firearms.

Madidis, Ayob and Tayuan are all residents of the troubled Nabalawag town in the Bangsamoro Special Geographic, scene of deadly clashes in recent months between feuding Moro groups squabbling for control of villages in the area, where there are bastions of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Nabalawag is not too distant from the town center of Midsayap, one of the 17 towns in Cotabato province under Administrative Region 12.

The vehicles of Madidis, Ayob and Tayuan were also impounded by policemen involved in the operation that resulted in their arrest.