A COMBINED team of soldiers and policemen have arrested in a law enforcement operation a suspected liaison officer of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay.

Brigadier General Roberto Ancan, Army’s 1st Infantry Division commander, identified the suspect as Maldimar Mahmor, allegedly a follower of ASG sub-leader

Idang Susukan who facilitates kidnappings in the provinces of Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte.

Ancan said the arresting team served on Mahmor a search warrant for illegal firearms at about 1 a.m. Monday in the village of Magdaup in Ipil town.

Recovered from Mahmor’s possession were a caliber .38 revolver, a grenade, an M-16 magazine with ammunition, and one rocket-propelled grenade ammunition.

Ancan said Mahmor was involved in the kidnapping of 21 people, including 10 European tourists, in Sipadan, Sabah, Malaysia on April 23, 2000; kidnapping of then Mayor Gemma Adana of Naga, Zamboanga Sibugay, on April 6, 2015; and kidnapping of Jose Duterte and his wife, Jessica, on March 3, 2017 in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte.

Mahmor was arrested by a joint team of the Army’s 44th Infantry Battalion and policemen.