FOILED GUN SMUGGLING. Police agents inspect a white minivan in search of more firearms after a brief firefight in Barangay Kurintem, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, on Sunday (Dec. 3, 2023). The gunmen escaped. (Photo courtesy of Datu Odin Sinsuat MPS)
DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao Norte – Government forces recovered Sunday afternoon high-powered firearms from a vehicle abandoned by armed occupants at a checkpoint in Barangay Kurintem here.
Lt. Colonel Ismael Madin, Datu Odin Sinsuat municipal police station chief, said in his report Monday that three armed men managed to escape following a brief firefight near a police-army checkpoint along the national highway.
“Police and Army personnel were conducting a checkpoint when a white minivan (WOW-128) arrived but refused to stop when flagged down for inspection,” Madin said.
Instead, the men inside the vehicle fired at the lawmen, resulting in a brief firefight before they escaped.
“Nobody was hurt on the government side, and we suspect one of the gunmen was injured,” Madin said, adding that the suspects could be gunrunners.
Police have persons of interest, Madin said, but probers are still digging deeper, including a ballistic test on the seized firearms.
Found inside the vehicle were an M14 rifle, an M16 rifle, an M-79 grenade launcher, and ammunition for a .60-caliber machine gun. (PNA)
