P6.5-M shabu seized, suspect falls in Lanao
ZAMBOANGA CITY -Authorities arrested an alleged big-time drug dealer and seized some PHP6.5-million worth of illegal drugs in an antidrug operation in Lanao del Norte, officials said Friday.
Lt. Col. Bernardo Taqueban, commander of the Army’s 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, identified the arrested alleged drug dealer as Jalil Akil, alias Malik Linog.
Taqueban said Akil was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Barangay West Poblacion, Balo-i, Lanao del Norte at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
Seized from Akil was a kilogram of suspected shabu with an estimated value of PHP6.5 million and 13 bundles of boodle money topped with two genuine PHP1,000 bills as marked money, police said.
The buy-bust operation was carried out by joint elements of the 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and policemen.
“The success of this operation can be attributed to the close collaboration between and among the different law enforcement agencies in the campaign against illegal drugs. Our unit is always ready to assist in any joint law enforcement and security operations to ensure the security and protection of our communities,” Taqueban said.
Brig. Gen. Ezra James Enriquez, commander of the Army’s 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, said “proper coordination among law enforcement units and timely execution greatly helped our forces in the successful conduct of the operation.”
Maj. Gen. Roberto Ancan, the Army’s 1st Infantry Division and Joint Task Force Zampelan (Zamboanga Peninsula and Lanao provinces) commander, lauded the troops involved for the successful Joint Law Enforcement Support Operation.
“We thank the concerned residents of Balo-i for the timely information relayed to our troops, which led to the success of our operations. Rest assured that we will work doubly hard in order to sustain our gains in peace and development efforts in this part of Western Mindanao,” Ancan said.
About the suspect
Linog, 30, is married with three children, a resident of Baloi who drives a public utility vehicle plying Balo-i to Marawi City, around 10 kilometers apart.
Agent Benjamin Recites, chief of Plans and Operations Division of PDEA-10, said they have been monitoring Linog for almost a month but did not get the perfect timing until he was collared this afternoon in a gasoline station in Balo-i using a new motorcycle.
The suspect, who admitted getting his supplies from Maguing town in Lanao del Sur, is considered a newly-identified drug personality based on confidential informant.
In an interview with the media, Linog said somebody he only know by face requested him to bring the black plastic handbag to a person waiting at the gasoline station.
The person who received it, without his knowlege, was PDEA’s agent.
“He always had his transaction in big volume... in a kilo,” Recites said in an interview.