5 arrested in Maguindanao for gambling, possession of firearms, shabu
MAGUINDANAO --- Police agents seized two assault rifles and shabu from five men caught playing cards with hefty cash bets in Datu Odin Sinsuat town Wednesday.
Suspects Al-Muslimin Lauban, 33, Recto Mindalbus, 50, Mohammad Usman, 24, Bagundang Hadji Salik, 29, and the 39-year-old Kevin Gogo, are now in the custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
Major Esmael Madin, CIDG-BAR’s provincial officer for Maguindanao, said they arrested the five men only for illegal gambling but found out that they have two assault rifles, an M16 and an M14, in their hideout.
CIDG-BAR agents also found shabu in their trouser pockets.
The anti-gambling raid that resulted in the arrest of the five men was launched based on tips by their vigilant neighbors in Barangay Datu Kiram in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.
Madin said they are to prosecute the suspect for violation of state anti-gambling law, possession of unlicensed firearms and shabu.
Lauban, Mindalbus, Usman, Hadji Salik and Gogo are now clamped down in a detention facility at the CIDG-BAR’s office in Cotabato City.
Madin said they are grateful to the informants who provided them information on the activities of the suspects, enabling the CIDG-BAR to launch the raid that resulted in their arrest.