Cops arrest Maguindanao town councilor, 2 pals for gun possession

COTABATO CITY-- Police arrested a town councilman and his two relatives during a law enforcement operation in Barangay Mirab, Upi, Maguindanao before dawn Friday.Chief Insp. Esmael Madin, head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (CIDG-ARMM), identified the arrested persons as Norodin Salik Musa, 50, municipal councilor of Upi town, and his two relatives, Alimodin Musa Dalmabao, 35, and Ahod Salik Musa, 30. They are all residents of Barangay Mirab, Upi.Armed with search warrants issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 13 Judge Bansawan Ibrahim for illegal possession of firearms (Republic Act No. 10591), the lawmen went to the house of Musa in Barangay Mirab shortly before 4 a.m. and carried out the order. The town official did not resist arrest, Madin said. Recovered from Musa’s home were an M16 rifle, three .45-caliber pistols, firearm magazines, and ammunition.Madin said Musa is a suspected protector of an illegal drug group in Upi.