Google map of Wao, Lanao del Sur
COTABATO CITY -- The head of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) police has warned his men to refrain from doing illegal acts because the law will eventually catch up with them.
Brig. Gen. Graciano Mijares, BARMM police chief, issued the warning after two cops were arrested for "kotong" or extortion in Wao, Lanao del Sur on Thursday following an entrapment operation.
Jailed were Master Sgt. Erwin A. Piquero and Staff Sgt. Jeffrey R. Fabros, both of the Wao police force.
Acting on complaints by Laut Madale, the two cops were nabbed in an entrapment laid by their companions and officials of the Lanao del Sur provincial police.
“Madale agreed to the entrapment operation and to hand over the extortion money to the two cops after officially filing his complaint before the Lanao del Sur police office,” Mijares said.
Mijares added that Madale handed over the PHP50,000 cash to the two cops who threatened to prosecute his son, Ibrahim, who was caught for illegal possession of a .45-caliber pistol.
Col. Madzgani Mukaram, director of the Lanao del Sur provincial police, said the two cops raided and searched the house of Ibrahim without a court warrant and found an unlicensed caliber .45 pistol .
Mukaram said the two policemen, both erring cops from Regions 7 and 4 and transferred to BARMM, demanded PHP100,000 in cash from Ibrahim.
In exchange, the two cops will drop the case against Madale’s son. Madale agreed to hand over the initial PHP50,000 to the suspects in an agreed meeting place and time, for which he also informed the Wao police chief about the deal.
“We don’t tolerate any misbehavior of our men,” Mukaram said, adding that the two rotten cops had just thrown away their monetary benefits upon retirement for the PHP50,000 extortion money they never had.
Mukaram lauded the Madale patriarch for cooperating with the police.
Mijares also lauded the police officers for their efforts to cleanse their ranks by working against their corrupt colleagues. (PNA)
