(Image courtesy of Police Regional Office-13)
BUTUAN CITY – Authorities arrested eight individuals of violating the implementation of the election gun ban in separate operations conducted over the weekend in Surigao del Sur province, police said Monday.
In an interview, Maj. Jennifer Omiter, the Police Regional Office in the Caraga Region (PRO-13) information office chief, said the violators were separately caught Saturday in the towns of Marihatag and San Miguel.
In Marihatag town, Omiter said personnel of the local police station quickly responded to information from a tribal chieftain on the presence of unidentified men roaming around in Barangays San Antonio and Santa Cruz.
“The informant said the men looked suspicious as they roamed around the two barangays, the reason they called for police assistance,” Omiter said.
Responding policemen arrested six individuals who gathered at a local store in San Antonio.
One of the suspects was caught throwing a short firearm in a grassy area near the store while another yielded a sharp-bladed knife, according to the Marihatag police.
Upon verification, the recovered short firearm was a loaded .45 caliber pistol with a holster.
The identities of the arrested suspects were withheld pending further investigation by the local police.
Also on Saturday, police arrested an armed individual in San Miguel town following a tip.
The suspect, identified only as a certain “Ric” yielded a .45-caliber MK IV pistol with two steel magazines and 11 live ammunition.
On the other hand, police operatives also nabbed a certain “Jack” in the same town who yielded a loaded Uzi machine pistol with 14 live ammunition during the implementation of a search warrant in Barangay Carromata.
“These accomplishments remind everyone that the Caraga police is intensifying the enforcement of laws to secure a safe and peaceful Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections,” PRO-13 Director Brig. Gen. Kirby John Kraft in a statement issued on Monday.
The PRO-13 has deployed 6,316 police personnel to provide security to 1,349 regional voting centers for today’s political exercise. (PNA)
