3 Ampatuans, 15 others nabbed for drug trafficking

COTABATO CITY, Philippines   â€“ Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested three members of the Ampatuan clan engaged in drug trafficking and 15 of their couriers in a raid on their hideout here on Wednesday.

Yogi Felimon Ruiz, PDEA director for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, identified the three Ampatuans as Nazzer, 57; Abubakar, 50; and Bainot, 51, who are now detained at the PDEA’s detention facility here.

The three and their 15 cohorts peacefully gave themselves up 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.

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

The former governor is undergoing trial for allegedly masterminding the Nov. 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre,  which left 58 people dead, more than 30 of them journalists.

Ruiz said the three arrested Ampatuan siblings had long been under their surveillance, with their neighbors and barangay leaders helping monitor their activities.

Ruiz said they recovered shabu from the drug den the Ampatuans operated.