A PERSONNEL of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) asking for payment in exchange for enlistment to the PCG was arrested by authorities in an entrapment operation in Zamboanga City, the police said Friday, May 31, 2024.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Jynleo Bautista, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Regional Field Unit (CIDG RFU)-Zamboanga Peninsula officer-in-charge, said the arrested PCG personnel is identified as Petty Officer 3 (PO3) Ibrahim Banota, 33, who is assigned in Tawi-Tawi and a resident of San Jose Gusu village, Zamboanga City.
Bautista said Banota was arrested in an entrapment operation inside a food chain in Zone 4 village, Zamboanga City around 11:15 a.m. Thursday, May 30.
Bautista said recovered from Banota’s possession were 149 pieces of P1,000 boodle money topped with one genuine P1,000 as marked money, a cellular phone, a PCG identification card, and a PhilHealth Card.
He said that Banota was arrested by CIDG operatives with the support of operatives from the Zamboanga City Police Station 11 and PCG intelligence.
Bautista said Banota was placed under the custody of the CIDG-Zamboanga City Field Unit office for documentation in preparation for the filing of charges against him. (SunStar Zamboanga)