2 terror, drug suspects nabbed

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 19): 2 terror, drug suspects nabbed

Joint government operatives recovered suspected illegal drugs, explosives and bomb-making materials in separate raids early Wednesday against two alleged members of a drug syndicate and a local terror group operating in Sarangani Province.

Gil Cesario Castro, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 12 director, said the operations mainly targeted suspects Norodin Lawas alias Kadulog and Marife Maguid, who were tagged as members of a drug group allegedly linked to terror group Ansari Al-Khilafah Philippines (AKP). AKP, which had pledged support to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is reportedly part of a terror network of the Maute Group.

The operations were led by PDEA-12 elements and backed by personnel from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Army-led Joint Task Force Gensan, Regional Public Safety Battalion-12 and the Maasim and Kiamba municipal police stations.

Armed with search warrants, Castro said they initially stormed Lawas' house in Barangay Kanalo Proper, Maasim town in Sarangani at around 2:05 a.m.

But he said the suspect managed to escape through an open field at the back of his house after sensing the presence of the raiding team.

Recovered from Lawas' house were around 15 grams of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu with an estimated value of P75,000 and a fragmented grenade, he said.

The official said the team then proceeded at around 3:30 a.m. to Maguid's house in Purok Crismus, Barangay Nalus in Kiamba town.

He said they recovered during a search around 20 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated value of P100,000, a black eyeglass case containing 10 assorted cellular phone SIM cards, two passports, three units of cellular phones, a blue-green colored bag containing assorted receipts, a black bag containing four blasting caps, two pieces soldering iron and a unit of rifle grenade.

Maguid is the third wife of the late AKP founder Mohammad Jaafar Sabewang Maguid alias Tokboy.

Tokboy, who was facing multiple charges over a string of terror attacks in Sarangani and the neighboring areas these past years, was killed in an encounter with police operatives at a beach resort in Barangay Kitagas, Kiamba last January.

"These suspects are high-value targets and we have long been monitoring their movements," Castro said.

He said the two would be charged with violation of Section 11 or possession of dangerous drugs, under Article II of Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and violation of RA 9156 for the recovered explosives and related materials.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1001789