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John Unson - Philstar.com
March 6, 2026 | 6:28pm
Police and barangay officials quickly tore down the front wall of a makeshift drug den in Barangay Bagua 3, Cotabato City, where its three operators were caught in a sting operation on March 3, 2026.
Photo courtesy of Philstar.com / John Unson
COTABATO CITY — Three shabu dealers, who ran a drug den in the city and sold marijuana reportedly linked to remnants of the defunct Dawlah Islamiya terror group, are now in detention and awaiting prosecution in court.
The suspects, Muzib Manial Ranggal and his two female accomplices, Johana Utto Gonzaga and Binay Danga Amer, were arrested on Tuesday, March 3, inside their drug den in Purok 5, Barangay Bagua 3, Cotabato City, where they reportedly hosted marijuana sessions for buyers.
Brig. Gen. Jaysen De Guzman, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Friday that all three have been charged with violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
"They will soon be prosecuted in a court with the help of witnesses from around the area where they operated a drug den," De Guzman said.
Ranggal, Gonzaga and Amer were arrested by operatives from the Cotabato City Police Office, led by Col. Jibin Bongcayao, along with anti-narcotics agents under Lt. Patricia Bueno of the City Police Drug Enforcement Unit. The operation followed a buy-bust in Purok 5, Barangay Bagua 3, during which the suspects sold P2,720 worth of shabu to police.
Both De Guzman and Col. Bongcayao said on Thursday, March 6, that the entrapment was conducted with the support of barangay officials and Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao.
De Guzman said the entrapment that led to the arrest of Ranggal, Gonzaga and Amer, and the subsequent closure of their drug den, was prompted by reports from relatives and neighbors to barangay officials and Matabalao, who chairs the city’s multi-sector peace and order council. The reports detailed the suspects’ sale of marijuana and shabu, as well as their operation of a makeshift drug den in Purok 5, Barangay Bagua 3.
Traditional Moro leaders and volunteer community watchmen are now guarding the shuttered drug den.
Officials from intelligence units under the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, which covers Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, and Cotabato provinces, areas where Dawlah Islamiya previously had enclaves, confirmed that the three suspects are listed among drug dealers who distributed marijuana supplied by remaining members of the now-defunct terror group. These individuals have yet to join the division’s reconciliation program for former violent extremists.
