ANTI-NARCOTICS agents arrested five alleged drug den operators who were reportedly providing funds to local terrorist group Dawlah Islamiya in an entrapment operation Saturday in Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Bangsamoro Region Director Christian O. Frivaldo on Monday said the suspects were caught in with the help of local officials and units of the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office.
Local executives have confirmed that the suspects jointly operated a clandestine drug den in Sitio Bangon in Barangay Pagalamatan.
Senior members of different municipal peace and order councils in Lanao del Sur, among them public school officials, told reporters Monday the five men shared proceeds of their earnings from peddling methamphetamine or shabu to the Dawlah Islamiya, a local terrorist group led by religious extremists fomenting hatred for non-Muslims.
Mr. Frivaldo said the suspects were immediately detained after selling P442,000 worth of shabu to non-uniformed PDEA agents and policemen.
PDEA agents in the Bangsamoro also confiscated fragmentation grenade and a .38 caliber revolver from the suspects. — John M. Unson