ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / May 4, 2013) – One of Zamboanga City’s most notorious criminal and drug lord was arrested along with 5 others in a police raid Saturday in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, authorities said.
It said Margani Samla alias “Bin Laden” was captured in the town of Hadji Mutammad town following a firefight that wounded one of the raiders.
No other details were made available by the authorities about the arrest of Samla, who is wanted in Zamboanga City.
Last year, police also raided Samla’s hideout in Zamboanga City’s Recodo village, triggering a firefight that killed one policeman and wounded two others.
Samla was able to elude arrest, but police captured seven of his alleged followers during the raid.
A purported list of his drug transactions and those in his payroll, which allegedly included some police officers, were also recovered by authorities from the hideout. The identities of Samla’s protectors were not made public by the police. (Mindanao Examiner)
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