2 shabu dealers linked to Dawlah terror group busted

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Two drug dealers who reportedly shared earnings with leaders of the now-weakened Dawlah Islamiya were arrested in separate entrapment operations in two Central Mindanao provinces within 24 hours.

The first arrest involved Paulo Gabines Leonardo, who was apprehended by non-uniformed policemen after selling 12 grams of shabu, worth P81,600, on Thursday, August 14, in Barangay Makir, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte.

Brig. Gen. Jaysen De Guzman, director of the Police Regional Office–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Friday, August 15, that the operation was planned by Lt. Col. Esmael Madin, chief of the Datu Odin Sinsuat Municipal Police Station, following reports from tipsters about Leonardo’s shabu trafficking.

Local executives and barangay officials also reported that Leonardo shared earnings from his drug sales with a Dawlah Islamiya cell, known for providing sanctuary to large-scale shabu and marijuana dealers in remote marshland areas along the Maguindanao del Norte–Maguindanao del Sur border in exchange for money.

The entrapment operation that resulted in the confiscation of P81,600 worth of shabu from Leonardo followed the arrest of another narcotics trafficker, Radin Mamaso Guiali, on Wednesday night, August 13, in Koronadal City, South Cotabato. Guiali, from Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, had been reported by traditional Moro community leaders and Army intelligence to be related by blood to two Dawlah Islamiya leaders.

Guiali was immediately detained after turning over 25 grams of shabu, worth P170,000, during a tradeoff in Barangay Morales, Koronadal City.

Officials of the Police Regional Office–12 said the operation leading to Guiali’s arrest, led by Lt. Col. Peter Pinalgan Jr., chief of the Koronadal City Police Station, was assisted by the South Cotabato Provincial Police Office and units of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.