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)