Only rifles and grenade found in house of Montawal vice mayor

MAGUINDANAO --- The raiding team that searched for narcotics found only four assault rifles and a grenade in the house of Vice Mayor Otto Montawal of Montawal town in this province.The Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao announced on Friday that the 5.56 M16 assault rifles and fragmentation grenade recovered before dawn Thursday in the vice mayor’s residence in Barangay Talapas, Montawalshall be used as evidence in prosecuting him for illegal possession of firearms and explosive.The PRO-ARMM said the raiding team did not find any methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) inside the house and in the surroundings of the fenced residential compound of Montawal in Barangay Talapas.Investigators earlier said the two men killed in the shootout that preceded the search for illegal drugs and firearms in Montawal’s house --- Mentak and Belag, both surnamed Alon --- were security aides of the vice mayor.Montawal’s wife, Krishel, told reporters after Thursday’s police operation that Malacañang’s assertion that her spouse is into narcotics trafficking is baseless and unfounded.It was President Rodrigo Duterte, no less, who announced early on that Montawal is included in Malacañang’s list of narco-politicians that he aims to purge during his presidency.Montawal’s wife has also accused the police personnel involved in the raid of taking a hefty sum of money and other belongings kept in the rooms of their houses.Senior police and military officials in Maguindanao told reporters Friday that the allegation is a propaganda ploy meant to discredit the PRO-ARMM and the police teams from Administrative Regions 11 and 12 that assisted in the operation.Besides the vice mayor, also targets of Thursday’s law enforcement operation were his son, Vicman, who is Montawal’s incumbent mayor, and his brother, Andy.Andy is a sibling of Montawal, who is aspiring for their hometown’s mayoral post in the May local elections.The law-enforcement operation that resulted in the recovery of four rifles and a fragmentation grenade found in Montawal’s house was premised on warrants issued by Judge Alandrex Betoya of the Regional Trial Court Branch 16 in Kabacan town in North Cotabato.In a statement Friday, the PRO-ARMM said all three targets of the raid are at large.Efforts to locate them are still in progress, according to PRO-ARMM.