A VILLAGE official listed as high-value target (HVT) was arrested in an anti-drug operation in the province of Maguindanao, officials said Saturday, October 17, 2020.

Major General Juvymax Uy, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, identified the arrested suspect as Jahir Guipal alias Johny Long, a village councilor in Mangudadatu town, Maguindanao.

Uy said Guipal was arrested by a joint team of lawmen in a buy-bust around 5:30 a.m. Friday, October 16, 2020 in Poblacion village, Buluan, Maguindanao.

Uy said confiscated from the suspect were some 20 grams of suspected shabu, a bundle of P14,000 boodle money topped with one genuine P1,000 bill, two analog cellular phones and several identification cards.

Uy said that Guipal is listed as a high-value target drug personality by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-BARMM).

He said the suspect was arrested by a joint team of troops from the 40th Infantry Battalion, PDEA-BARMM and policemen from Buluan town.

He said the suspect and the recovered items are now in the custody of PDEA-BARMM for documentation and proper disposition. (SunStar Zamboanga)