COTABATO CITY: A drug suspect was killed while two of his cohorts were arrested following a shootout on a PHP3.4-million drug buy-bust in Midsayap, North Cotabato on Friday.

Lt. Col. John Calinga, Midsayap police chief, identified the suspect as Mohidin Mahmod, an alleged member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front based on identification documents retrieved from his body.

Mahmod’s accomplices, Sidik Zailon and Nasrudin Tugan, yielded to policemen after a brief chase.

“Mahmod opted to shoot it out with the arresting after the exchange with a poseur-buyer,” Calinga said of the entrapment that took place 11:45 a.m. on the national highway in Barangay Bual Sur.

He said members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Soccsksargen and PDEA-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao joined the operation against Mahmod’s group.

Recovered from the suspects were some 500 grams worth of shabu with an estimated street value of PHP3.4-million, the bundle of “boodle money” with one genuine PHP1,000 bill on top, a .45-caliber pistol, and a motorcycle with no plate number.

Charges for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) and RA 10591 (“Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act) are being readied against Mahmod’s cohorts.

 (Noel Punzalan/PNA/SRNY/RSP)