Couple drug dealers killed in Lanao Sur joint police and military operations

LANAO DEL SUR --- Authorities shot dead a wanted drug lord and his wife in an encounter Tuesday in Maguing town in Lanao del Sur.Senior Supt. Oscar Nantes, Lanao del Sur provincial police director, identified the fatalities as Cairodin Anto and his wife, Farhana, who both died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds.Anto was one of five targets of simultaneous joint police-military anti-narcotics operation in the adjoining Barangays Bato-Bato and Malingon in Maguing and in Marawi City that started before dawn Tuesday.Marawi City is the capital of Lanao del Sur and Maguing is located in the first district of the province.Instead of yielding peacefully, the Anto couple opened fire at the raiding teams that approached from different directions their hideout in Maguing, sparking a gunfight that led to their deaths.Their nine-year-old daughter was wounded in the crossfire, now undergoing medication in a hospital.The law enforcement operation in Maguing was also aimed at arresting drug dealers Baulo Anto and Sultan Abdullah Pundugar, who also both escaped.Nantes said they also recovered firearms and shabu in their abandoned hideouts.Nantes said the encounter in Maguing left Navy Seaman 1 Jomar Agustin and Seaman 2 Jay Hansel Rebadonia wounded.Nantes said among the five they were to serve with a warrant of arrest was Maguing’s incumbent vice mayor, Gambao Abinal and his brother, Hakim.He said police and military agents failed to corner them in the mayor’s house in Marawi City but recovered assorted firearms and shabu hidden in its rooms.The separate operations in Maguing and Marawi City were carried out jointly by personnel of the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the Lanao del Sur provincial police office, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, agents from the Philippine Army, the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. No automatic alt text available sand//scontent.fmnl9-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17156299_588420121328494_6814112516015985895_n.jpg?oh=6cda032a76c237a25793a388239f5cb1andampoe=596C0F05 Nantes said there is a possibility that lookouts could have warned Abinal of the raid just as the raiding teams, backed by soldiers from the Army's 103rd Brigade, began surrounding his house in Marawi City. Image may contain 1 person sitting sand//scontent.fmnl9-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17202838_588420064661833_4887423027581541388_n.jpg?oh=c1e0b23463cbd2ca37e27b0b542e6cc9andampoe=59717841 Image may contain 1 person sky and outdoor sand//scontent.fmnl9-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17155877_588420144661825_2525592767793781628_n.jpg?oh=965491d5b3ccb84615251770063bec87andampoe=592F7629