Mastermind in abduction of Korean treasure-hunter arrested

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — Government operatives arrested the other day one of the alleged masterminds in the abduction two years ago of a Korean treasure-hunter and his Filipino business partner in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat.

Chief Superintendent Antonio Billiones, police director in Central Mindanao, said the suspect, Ambel Tuge, 37, voluntarily surrendered to authorities after sensing that policemen, backed by Army agents, had cordoned his hideout in Maitum, Sarangani.

Sources at the Municipal Peace and Order Council in Palimbang, a coastal town in Sultan Kudarat, have confirmed that Tuge, who belongs to the Abu Sofia kidnap-for-ransom gang, was one of the brains in the abduction in 2002 of Korean national Jae Kwon Yoon and his Filipino partner, Carlos Belonio.

Jae and Belonio were snatched by heavily armed men in Barangay Malisbong in Palimbang while surveying sites there for possible treasures.

The victims, held captive for four months, were released after their respective families paid ransom to the kidnappers.

Tuge, a Maguindanaon, is also wanted for the earlier murder of a soldier, Army Cpl. Harry Abdo, in South Cotabato.

Army agents also arrested early this year in Koronadal City, Commander Abdurahman Bedis, one of the alleged plotters of the abduction of Jae and Belonio.

Bedis, who is a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), was arrested with a cohort, Acmad Dali, in a hotel in Koronadal City, while allegedly planning to bomb a nearby business establishment. — John Unson