SEIZED. Illegal firearms and other evidence seized from three suspects, including an ex-village councilor, after their arrest during an entrapment in Cotabato City on Monday (Nov. 21, 2023). The suspects did not resist arrest when Criminal Investigation and Detection Group agents caught them. (Photo courtesy of CIDG-BARMM)
COTABATO CITY – A former village councilor here and two others were arrested Monday afternoon for possession of three unlicensed firearms during a police entrapment.
Former Barangay Rosary Heights 7 village councilor Okan Salik was nabbed after completing the illegal transaction with an undercover agent near the village hall at about 3 p.m. Monday.
Operatives also arrested his cohorts, Alrajem Sansaluna, 23, from Koronadal City, South Cotabato; and Alinor Silongan, 21, of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, according to a report released Tuesday by Lt. Col. Ariel Huesca, chief of the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (CIDG-BARMM).
Recovered from the suspects were a 5.56 mm rifle, two .45-caliber pistols, ammunition and magazines, mobile phones, a vehicle, and the PHP200,000 marked money.
Salik later denied personally knowing Sansaluna and Silongan and that he is a gunrunner.
CIDG agents likewise found a 5.56mm rifle in Salk’s car, which the suspect said was for "self-defense" following a gun attack a few years back.
The suspects, currently locked up at the CIDG-BARMM detention facility here, are facing charges for violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act. (PNA)
