Police authorities filed charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition on Wednesday against three persons who were arrested in separate raids in Maasim and Kiamba towns.
Chief Insp. Maximo Sebastian Jr., chief of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 12’s regional special investigation and detection team (RSIDT), identified the suspects as Kim Gama, a resident of Barangay Daliao in Maasim; and, Sherwin and Esmael Adam, both of Barangay Lagundi in Kiamba.
He said Gama was nabbed following a raid on an alleged lair in Sitio Lebe of Barangay Daliao in Maasim of fugitive Mohamad Jaafar Maguid alias Tokboy, who is wanted over a string of attacks several years ago in
Armed with a search warrant, Sebastian said they stormed early Tuesday the hideout of Maguid, which was situated within a camp of the Moro National Liberation Front in the area.
The operation was joined by elements from PRO 12’s RSIDT, Regional Public Safety Battalion, Regional Special Action Force and the Sarangani Provincial Police Office, he said.
He said the raid, which was launched following around six months of surveillance, led to a 30-minute firefight with Maguid and around 10 other heavily-armed men who later escaped towards the mountainous portions of the area.
The raiding team recovered several firearms and ammunition at Maguid’s hideout, where Gama was arrested.
“We confirmed Maguid’s presence there so we immediately launched the operation. But the area was fortified and his group is well equipped in terms of firearms,” Sebastian said.
He said Daliao barangay chair Aladdin Tambingag affirmed that local residents had seen Maguid passing by the area in the past months.
Gama, who claimed to have only joined Maguid’s group last year, admitted that the latter had set up a base in the area and was able to recruit at least 10 members.
Maguid, who is a former field commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) 105th base command, had been tagged as behind a string of criminal activities in
The suspect, who had been charged with murder, destructive arson and robbery with violence, led a daring attack by rogue MILF members in Maasim on August 18, 2008 that left three people dead.
Maguid is also a suspect in a grenade attack during a festival in Maasim last June 20, 2009, which killed one person and wounded 32 others.
He was arrested in July 2009 but escaped from the Sarangani Provincial Jail in Alabel town in March 2010.
Maguid was tagged in May 2010 as behind a roadside bomb attack that reportedly targeted the convoy of then reelectionist Sarangani Gov. Miguel Rene Dominguez.
Meantime, Sebastian said a separate RSDIT unit arrested Richard Adam and his nephew Esmael after a raid on their house in Barangay Lagundi in Kiamba town on Tuesday morning.
During the raid, he said the two suspects were found in possession of a .45 caliber handgun and a 12-gauge shotgun with live ammunition.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=617689
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