12 arrested in another Lanao del Sur PDEA operation

LANAO DEL SUR --- Authorities have filed charges against 12 members of a notorious drug ring that peddled shabu to Maranaw villages in Malabang, Lanao del Sur.Bryan Babang, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-ARMM), on Friday said the suspects are now awaiting prosecution.The group was cornered by combined personnel of PDEA-ARMM, the Army’s 6thInfantry Division, and the municipal police on Wednesday in Barangay Cabasaran in Malabang.Babang said they learned of the drug peddling activities of the group from confidential informants in Malabang, among them local officials and traditional Maranaw elders.The suspects belong to a group led by Intisar Sarip, Anisa Balindong Cali and Fahad Kasan Bangon, who were all nabbed during the raid.The joint PDEA-Army-police raiding teams found P75,000 worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu), firearms, and a fragmentation grenade in their drug den in Barangay Cabasaran.The followers of the three drug den operators --- Nabel Como Ayunan, Japar Uga Sultan, Siehawe Dipatuan Marohom, Jamil Imam, Mohammad Aiman Dipatuan Sarip, Ainola Aguam Balindong, Asgar Kampong Casim, Kadar Sugo Manua, and Camar Mama --- are now in the custody of PDEA-ARMM.Babang said all of them are to be prosecuted for violation of the Philippine Dangerous Drugs Act.