Shabu, assault rifles seized from 3 slain suspects in Tawi-Tawi
TIMRA Reports • 10:15 AM Mon Aug 1, 2022
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By:
John M. Unson
The firearms and narcotics seized from the suspects. (From PRO-BAR)
COTABATO CITY - Policemen seized more than P300,000 worth of shabu from three dealers killed in a 20-minute gunfight in Tandubas island town in Tawi-Tawi Sunday.
Brig. Gen. Arthur Cabalona, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Monday the suspects, armed with M14 and M16 assault rifles, fired at the team approaching their hideout, sparking a gunfight that left the three of them dead.
Cabalona declined to reveal their exact identities, meantime, while the Tawi-Tawi provincial police force is still trying to locate the supplier of shabu that they peddled in Tandubas and in other island municipalities in the province.
Cabalona said a police team, led by Lt. Yahiya Knaik, was dispatched to Barangay Kakoong in Tandubas to check on their presence in the area based on reports by vigilant villagers.
“They shot our operatives while proceeding to their hideout so an encounter erupted,” Cabalona said.
Policemen found in the scene of the encounter three M14 assault rifles, an M16 rifle, a 9 millimeter KG9 machine pistol and 52.91 grams of shabu that probers said is worth P359,788.
Three companions of the slain gunmen were arrested by policemen while trying to run away.
They are now in the custody of the Tandubas municipal police, according to Cabalona.