KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews / 26 Oct) – Authorities in North Cotabato arrested in the municipality of Kabacan, North Cotabato on Thursday two motorists after the latter were found carrying an unlicensed gun and ammunition during the police-led “Oplan Lambat Bitag Sasakyan.”
Chief Insp. Bryan Placer, chief of Kabacan PNP, identified the suspects as Jelamin Alamanza Abid and Maki Kamirong Mato, both residents of Poblacion.
Placer said Abid drove a Honda Wave motorcycle with Mato as passenger.
Police recovered from Abid an unlicensed Armscor caliber .45 pistol bearing serial number 742814, along with eight cartridges.
Recovered from Mato’s possession were two steel magazines that contained eight pieces of caliber .45 cartridges.
The suspects were immediately placed under the custody of the Kabacan PNP while charges of illegal possession of gun and ammunition were being prepared against them. The police has also impounded Abid’s motorcycle as an accessory to the crime.
Authorities who conducted the inspection at the highway along Kabacan impounded 21 motorcycles after owners failed to present legal papers.
Apprehended were 171 traffic violators who were told to pay their penalties at the Land Transportation Office.
The operation was led by the Cotabato Police Provincial Office (CPPO), Kabacan municipal police station, Provincial Intelligence Bureau, Traffic Management Unit of Kabacan, and other law enforcement units.
Placer said this was the first highway inspection they conducted after Malacañang ordered that the anti-illegal drugs operations would now be under the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). (Malu Cadelina Manar / MindaNews)