A police team arrested an elusive criminal gang leader from Lanao del Sur on Sunday, September 28, in Midsayap, Cotabato; he was known for sharing proceeds from his illegal activities with the Dawlah Islamiya terror group.
Officials of the Police Regional Office-12 told reporters on Tuesday, September 30, that agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (CIDG-BAR) cornered in Midsayap the long-wanted Jamal Sadang, who is facing high-profile criminal cases pending in different courts in Lanao del Sur province in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Police Brig. Gen. Jaysen De Guzman, director of the Bangsamoro regional police, said on Tuesday that Sadang is now locked in the detention facility of the CIDG-BAR at the PC Hill in Cotabato City, the capital of BARMM.
Sadang is a known leader of an armed gang involved in motorcycle theft, extortion and large-scale peddling of shabu in different towns in the second district of Lanao del Sur.
Officials of Army units under the 103rd Infantry Brigade covering Lanao del Sur told reporters on Tuesday that Sadang has links with certain commanders of the now weakened Dawlah Islamiya, who provided him sanctuary in exchange for money whenever he is subjected to extensive manhunts by police teams under the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
De Guzman said it was local officials and traditional Maranao leaders in Lanao del Sur who reported to officials of the CIDG-BAR the presence of Sadang in Midsayap, enabling them to track him down in the municipality and serve the warrants for his arrest.
The operation that led to his arrest was assisted by officials from the Midsayap Municipal Police Station and the Cotabato Provincial Police Office, both under PRO-12’s director, Brig. Gen. Arnold Ardiente.