SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao del Norte (July 1, 2025) — A 35-year-old man was arrested during an entrapment operation Tuesday morning after selling shabu worth P680,000 to undercover police operatives in Barangay Dalumangcob.
The suspect, identified as Saddam Abdulla Pananggalan, a resident of Barangay Simsiman in nearby Pigcawayan town, Cotabato province, is now under police custody and detained in a local facility.
According to a report from Brigadier General Jaysen De Guzman, director of the Police Regional Office in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR), the successful sting operation was jointly carried out by members of the Police Drug Enforcement Group–Special Operations Unit 15, the Maguindanao del Norte Provincial Police Office, and the Sultan Kudarat Municipal Police Station.
Pananggalan did not resist arrest when law enforcers led by Lt. John Paclibar apprehended him after the illegal drug sale at a designated site in Barangay Dalumangcob.
Brig. Gen. De Guzman also credited the support of local officials and Maguindanao del Norte Governor Tucao Ong Mastura in facilitating the operation. Authorities have not yet disclosed further details on whether the suspect is linked to a larger drug syndicate, but investigation is ongoing.