3 Abu Sofia leaders captured in Cotabato

COTABATO CITY — Combined police and Army operatives arrested here the other day three notorious leaders of the Abu Sofia kidnap-for-ransom gang, which has links with Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafy Janjalani.

The suspects, Alo Binago and his cousins, Khalid and Manan, also both surnamed Binago, gave themselves up after sensing that the joint police-Army team, led by Superintendent Roberto Badian of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Lt. Col. Salvador Calanoy, had surrounded their hideout in a slum area here.

The Binagos were implicated in more than a dozen heinous crimes, including kidnappings and multiple murders.

Badian said they will turn over the suspects to the municipal trial court in Palembang, Sultan Kudarat, which had issued the warrants for their arrest.

Palimbang officials confirmed the Binagos’ involvement in the abduction of Korean treasure hunter Jae Kwon Yoon and his Filipino partner, Carlos Belonio, on Feb. 2, 2002.

Jae and Belonio were snatched in Barangay Malisbong, Palimbang while surveying sites for their treasure hunt.

They were released one after the other after nearly four months in captivity, through the intercession of local leaders.

Sources in the Palimbang municipal peace and order council said the Binagos, now under the custody of the Army-led Task Force Tugis here, gave Janjalani sanctuary in their lairs at the Sultan Kudarat-South Cotabato boundary when the elusive Abu Sayyaf chieftain was driven away from the Zamboanga peninsula by pursuing government forces.

Calanoy said a resident had tipped them of the Binagos’ presence in the city.

"It took us a little time to validate their identities and their whereabouts," said Calanoy, whose unit is operating under the supervision of the 6th Infantry Division in nearby Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

Two handguns and maps of business establishments and public places here and in surrounding towns were found in the Binagos’ possession.

Also found in their hideout were B-40 anti-tank rockets and materials used in making homemade bombs.

During the initial interrogation, Calanoy said the Binagos admitted plans to conduct bombings and kidnappings in the city.