Troops arrest bandit, kidnapper

From the Sun Star-Zamboanga (Sep 11): Troops arrest bandit, kidnapper

JOINT military and police forces have arrested an Abu Sayyaf bandit and a member of the kidnap-for-ransom-group (KFRG) in separate operations in Zamboanga Peninsula.

Arrested were Ismael Cawa alias Abu Ismael, a member of the Basilan-based Abu Sayyaf Group, and Masdal Sabtal, a KFRG member.

Army’s 4th Special Forces Battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Eliglen Villaflor said Cawa was arrested around 10 a.m. Wednesday at Sitio Balawatin in the village of Makiri, Isabela City, the capital of Basilan province.

Villaflor said Cawa’s arrest came after receipt of information about his presence in the village of Makiri.

Villaflor said Cawa has standing warrants of arrest for kidnapping with serious illegal detention with ransom issued by a Court in Isabela City.

Police Regional Office-Zamboanga Peninsula (PRO-9) Information officer-in-charge Inspector Dahlan Samuddin said Sabtal was arrested around 4:20 p.m. Wednesday off shore Zamboanga Sibugay.

Samuddin said the joint police and military forces were conducting maritime interdiction and law enforcement operation when they spotted Sabatal along the seawater of Zamboanga Sibugay province.

Samuddin said Sabtal is a follower of the KFRG known as the “Mamay Aburi Group.”

He said Sabtal has standing warrant of arrest for kidnapping and serious illegal detention and robbery issued by a Court in Imelda, Zamboanga Sibugay.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2014/09/11/troops-arrest-bandit-kidnapper-365008