ZAMBOANGA CITY - Joint intelligence forces of the police and the military captured a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf group on Friday morning near the city hall.
The suspect was identified as Jailani Basirul, an alleged mid-level leader of the local terror and kidnapping group.
Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo, city police chief, said Basirul has a P600,000 bounty on his head.
Intelligence operatives spotted Basirul along Valderoza Street, a few hundred meters away from the city hall, at arond 7:00 a.m.
The security forces armed with two warrants of arrest issued separately by Basilan judges Danilo Bucay and Leo Jay Principe cornered the suspect, who was then heading towards the port area.
Basirul is facing criminal charges for his alleged participation in the kidnapping of plantation workers of Golden Harvest in Barangay Tairan, Lantawan town in Basilan in 2001.
The bandits raided the plantation and seized eight workers and subsequently beheaded four of the victims.
The suspect has been brought to an intelligence unit safehouse in Zamboanga for further questioning.