DAVAO city police arrested on Wednesday one of Indonesia's most wanted person who has been tagged in the hijacking of a cargo vessel that was later found stuck in the waters of Mati City in Davao Oriental.
The suspect, Danilo Sorote Wangkanusa, 46, a businessman, was arrested in his rented house at Santa Rosarioon Km. 10 in Sasa, Davao City.
Davao city police, in coordination with the Indonesian police, served the warrant of arrest to Wangkanusa around 9:40 a.m. Wednesday.
The arrest warrant was issued by Troyo Wibowd, director of Marine police in North Sulawesi Regional Police in Indonesia.
The suspect tried to escape by jumping off from the second floor of his rented house, but policemen cornered and arrested him.
It can be recalled that the Indonesian cargo vessel, a single oil-tanker M/T Rehobot, was hijacked by five Indonesian pirates sometime in January this year in North Sulawesi. The vessel was found stuck in the waters of Mati City in February.
Chief Inspector Milgrace Cajes Driz, Davao City Police Office spokesperson, said Wangkanusa has been in hiding in Davao City since the arrest of the four other hijacking suspects in the past few months.
"The M/T Rehobot was seen stuck in the waters off Davao Oriental with Indonesian flag with 1,100 tons of diesel oil. Four of his colleagues were already arrested in Indonesia in February," Driz said Thursday morning.
Investigation is still ongoing to determine the suspect's "coddler" during his stay in Davao City, Driz said.
The suspect is expected to be deported to Indonesia since the crime was committed in that country.
"Ginatan-aw pa nato kung siya bagyud ang leader sa group (We are still trying to determine if he is the leader of this group)," Driz said.
The suspect's background information is still being checked to find out whether he has connection with any terrorist groups.
"Once ma-process na ang documents nitong suspect then made-deport na ito sa Indonesia. Probably by Saturday matatapos na ang processing (The suspect will be deported once the documents are processed. The processing will probably be completed by Saturday)," she said. (Sun.Star Davao)