3 Ampatuan clan members nabbed in drug raid

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Anti-narcotics agents arrested three members of the Ampatuan clan engaged in drug trafficking and 15 of their couriers in a raid at their hideout here.

Yogi Felimon Ruiz, director for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, identified the two Ampatuans as Nazzer, 57, Abubakar, 50, and Bainot, 51, now detained at the PDEA’s detention facility here.

The suspects and their 15 cohorts voluntarily yielded when they sensed that Ruiz and his men, backed by members of the local police and combatants of the 1st Marine Battalion Landing Team, had surrounded their hideout, ready to pounce on them if they resist.

The 15 alleged couriers of the Ampatuan siblings, who are related by blood to detained former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan, Sr., are now undergoing interrogation, according to Ruiz.

The former governor is undergoing prosecution in connection with his having allegedly masterminded the infamous November 23, 2009 politically-motivated “Maguindanao Massacre,” that left 58 people dead, more than 30 of them journalists.

Ruiz said the cashiered Ampatuans have long been under PDEA’s surveillance.

Neighbors and barangay leaders helped the agency monitor their activities, Ruiz said.

Ruiz said they have recovered shabu from the drug den the Ampatuans operated. He did not mention how much was seized during the raid.

He said criminal cases will be filed against the suspects before the weekend.