Meranao public officials arrested for alleged possession of shabu

LANAO DEL SUR --- Agents seized from a provincial board member and a Marawi City councilor P3.4 million worth of shabu in a raid in Iligan City Tuesday.Hussein Magandia and Amienquailid Dimal, incumbent member of the Lanao del Sur Sangguniang Panlalawigan and councilor in Marawi City, respectively, are now in the custody of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, to be prosecuted for violation of Republic Act 9165.The RA 9165, which outlawed possession or sale of narcotics and other regulated substances, is also known as the Philippine Dangerous Drugs Act.Senior PDEA officials in Regions 10 and 12 and in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao confirmed their arrest on Wednesday after agents, backed by police personnel, searched their house in Iligan City and found there P3.4 million worth of shabu last Tuesday.The raid was launched based on a warrant issued by Judge Alandrex Betoya of the Regional Trial Court Branch 16 in Kabacan town in North Cotabato.Dimal is son-in-law of Magandia, according to local officials in Lanao del Sur, a component-province of the ARMM.PDEA regional officials told reporters it was relatives of the two Meranao officials who informed the agency that they were keeping shabu in a house in Iligan City, about 40 minutes via overland travel from Marawi City.Marawi City is the capital of Lanao del Sur.In separate statements Wednesday, PDEA offices in southern regions said the raid that resulted in the arrest of the duo and recovery of shabu from them was assisted by the office of Iligan City Mayor Celso Regencia.Regencia is popular in Iligan City for his iron-fisted stance against drug trafficking in barangays under his jurisdiction.