Sources: 15 traffickers nabbed in Lanao Sur belong to `Picong shabu `cartel’

COTABATO CITY --- The 15 drug dealers nabbed May 14  in Picong, Lanao del Sur belong to the “Picong cartel” circulating 30  kilos of shabu monthly in the province, officials said Monday. 

The suspects, arrested in separate raids in Picong town in Lanao del Sur, are now in the custody of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. 

One of their leaders, Kareem Usop Abedin, was killed in an ensuing shootout that preceded their arrest. 

The incident left Patrolmen Melvin Habiling and Richard Nicolas, both from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and Master Sergeant Rafael Abdullah of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, wounded. 

The 15 suspects --- Ansano Ampuan, Amrudin Sarip, Aminodin Ditucalan, Samsudin Itaw, Libot Dimaampao, Liya Dimaampao, Jerry Toma, Gorbani Bitucalan, Jomar Pagayawan, Samin Abdillah, Alioden Buale, Bokari Dagu, Asrap Dimampa, Jasser Baguan and Jomar Abdul --- were tagged in the ambush in Picong in 2014 and, subsequently, in 2017, of police vehicles that resulted in the death of a policeman and injured five others.

“These are big fishes. They are members of the so-called `Picong drug cartel’ circulating regularly a big volume of shabu in Lanao del Sur, “a traditional Maranao community elder, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said Monday. 

Juvenal Azurin, director of PDEA-BARMM, said Monday cases are now being prepared against the suspects for possession of shabu and firearms. 

“We are now preparing all the needed documents to be filed at the office of Lanao del Sur’s provincial prosecutor in Marawi City,” Azurin said.

A check at the headquarters of PRO-BAR in Parang,  Maguindanao and with intelligence units of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division showed that the 15 suspects were indeed implicated in the 2014 and 2017 ambush of police vehicles carrying teams out to monitor their activities in different barangays in Picong. 

“I was one of those in the vehicle they ambushed in 2014. Good enough personnel the 6^th Infantry Battalion backed by two armored combat vehicles arrived and helped us drive them away,” said a member then of the Picong municipal police, now an investigator in a municipal police station in Maguindanao.

A policeman was killed in the 2017 ambush reportedly perpetrated by the same group.

The separate raids that led to the arrest of the 15 suspects were jointly initiated by the PDEA-BARMM, the PRO-12, the Navy’s 5^th Marine Battalion, the National Bureau of Investigation and the CIDG-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.

Brig. Gen. Eden Ugale, director of PRO-BAR, said Monday he is thankful to traditional community elders and religious leaders in Picong for helping the PDEA-BARMM and the police locate the 15 suspects in different areas in the municipality.

A separate case shall also be filed against them for hurting three policemen they shot with a 40 millimeter grenade projectile while approaching their hideout, according to Ugale.