NABBED. Police agents, backed by Army personnel, arrest two wanted men during a joint law enforcement operation in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato on Tuesday (Feb. 20, 2024). Both have warrants of arrest for charges of murder and illegal drug peddling. (Photo courtesy of CIDG-BARMM)
PIGCAWAYAN, North Cotabato – Two suspects wanted for murder and illegal drug trade were arrested during a joint Army and police law enforcement operation along the national highway here Tuesday afternoon.
Lt. Col. Ariel Huesca, regional chief of the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (CIDG-BARMM), identified the arrested suspects as Taha Pasawiran, 54, and Ronnie Meron, 42, both residents of Sultan Kudarat town, Maguindanao del Norte.
The two had just got out of a hospital in adjacent Libungan town and were heading to Cotabato City in a vehicle when flagged down by authorities at a police checkpoint in Barangay Presbitero here around 5 p.m.
“CIDG agents received a tip about the two wanted men traveling to Cotabato City on board an SUV (sports utility vehicle) and quickly coordinated with the Army’s 34th Infantry Battalion and the police’s Special Action Force for the arrest,” Huesca said in a statement Wednesday.
The CIDG said Pasawiran and Meron have pending arrest warrants issued by a local court in Cotabato City for murder and violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, respectively.
Pasawiran was considered as the third most wanted person in the BARMM while Meron, allegedly a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), is listed as the fifth most wanted person in Maguindanao del Norte.
They are now detained at the CIDG-BARMM detention facility in Cotabato City. (PNA)
