ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 23 June) – Kidnapping attempts were foiled after government forces arrested four suspected Abu Sayyaf members, including a financier, in two separate raids in this city, officials announced Monday.
Arrested were Sattar Abdulla alias Abu Sattar, the alleged financier; Jerry Intimani alias Jumong, the alleged team leader; Sammara Akbaw, spotter; and Gaber Masturan, speedboat operator.
Col. Aminkadra Undug, acting commander of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, said combined military and police operatives arrested Abdullah in a raid around 2:20 a.m. Sunday in Tumalutab, an island barangay in this city.
Undug said that Abdullah is facing six-count kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges before a Court in Pasay City and a corresponding warrant was issued for his arrest.
Senior Supt. Angelito Casimiro, Zamboanga City police officer-in-charge, said the other three were arrested in a raid Sunday evening in two safehouses at Sitio Caragasan, Barangay Maasin, this city.
Casimiro said the combined police and military raiding team led by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) confiscated from the suspects two caliber .45 pistols with ammunition, a fragmentation grenade and a three-engine speedboat.
He said the arresting team also recovered a sketch plan from the suspects’ possession indicating their targets for kidnapping.
Casimiro said among the suspects’ targets to be kidnapped is the 12-year-old son of the owner of a shipyard in Barangay Recodo and a certain businessman who owns a chain of pharmacies in this city.