SEIZED. The shabu drug paraphernalia, hand grenade, and .45-caliber pistol recovered from slain drug suspect Al Rashed Sungan Layao following a shootout with lawmen during a drug sting operation in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat on Thursday (May 28, 2020). Police and military intelligence reports say the suspect doubles as bomb courier for the Daesh-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters operating in Maguindanao and other parts of Central Mindanao. (Photo courtesy of PRO-12)
COTABATO CITY – A drug suspect, who allegedly doubled as an improvised explosive device (IED) courier for the Daesh-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), died in a shootout with the police in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat on Thursday.
Brigadier Gen. Michael John Dubria, director of Police Regional Office-12, identified the slain suspect on Friday as Al Rashed Sungan Layao, an alleged drug pusher and bomb carrier of the BIFF–Abu Toraife faction operating in Central Mindanao.
“The suspect was killed after shooting at the arresting team of police and military personnel around 3:30 p.m. at Barangay New Cebu in Lambayong town,” Dubria said.
He said members of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit (RPDEU) were backed by personnel of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA-12) in the operation.
During the entrapment, Dubria said the poseur-buyer was able to buy a sachet of suspected shabu from the suspect.
“Layao, however, sensed that he was dealing with a police agent so he drew his gun and fired at the lawmen who closed in on him,” he said.
The arresting team fired back, hitting Layao who was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival by doctors, police said.
Recovered from the suspect were the PHP500 marked money, a .45-caliber pistol, a fragmentation grenade, and 10 pieces of suspected shabu sachets, police said.
Dubria said police and military intelligence reports indicated that Layao had also served as a close aide of a foreign terrorist identified only as certain Mauwiya, a Singaporean national and wanted bomb maker now hiding in the marshlands of Maguindanao province.
The terrorist group is blamed for the Roxas Night Market bombing in Davao City in September 2016 and also the Isulan bombing in April 2019. (PNA)
