North Cotabato village treasurer, farmer nabbed in anti-drug operation

KIDAPAWAN CITY --A village treasurer and a farmer, both suspected of drug trafficking, were arrested by authorities in Kabacan, North Cotabato on Friday.Chief Inspector Bryan Placer, station chief of Kabacan Police, identified the suspects as Abdulkadir Calim, 41, farmer, and Nadya Hasim Abubakar or Nandja Bacuna, 36, treasurer of Barangay Nabundas in Pagagawan, Maguindanao.Both are residents of Barangay Kayaga, Kabacan. They confiscated from Bacuna a caliber .99mm pistol and several sachets of methamphetamine hydrochloride orshabu.Placer said they apprehended the suspects in separate search operations they launched early Friday in Barangay Kayaga. He admitted, though, that four of the six drug personalities they targeted during the search had escaped or were not present in their hideouts.Judge Alandrex Betoya of the Regional Trial Court Branch 16 based in Kabacan issued the search warrants. Placer said the drugs being sold in Kabacan town are coming from nearby towns in Maguindanao and in Cotabato City.He denied there’s a laboratory of shabu in town.The suspects were placed in police custody and charges are being prepared against them, the officer said.The arrest of the two came a month after operatives of the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit of the Philippine National Police nabbed at least 10 suspected drug personalities in separate search operations in Poblacion, Kabacan.