ARMM ‘drug queen’ arrested in Davao drug operations

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Authorities here arrested Sunday, September 3, a Maguindanao village official who was previously charged in a drug-related raid in Cotabato City last February.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in this region identified the suspect as Fatima Daud Baliwan alias Timaw, 44, a village chairperson and president of the Association of Barangay Captains of of Northern Kabuntalan town, Maguindanao.

Baliwan is behind the notorious Baliwan Drug Group in the Autonomous Region in Mindanao, PDEA XI Regional Director Adzhar Albani said in a statement on Monday, September 4.

Baliwan was arrested in a buy-bust operation inside a house in Woodridge, an exclusive subdivision in Ma-a, this city.

Arrested too were Norodin Baliwan and Noria Diyao alias Noria, who were caught with 3 medium sachets of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride with an estimated market value of P600,000, the PDEA said.

A cellular phone and the buy-bust marked money were also recovered. A Toyota Grandia with plate number LGJ 155 was used in the activity, Albani said.

The suspects, according to PDEA, are now detained at their facility here. The seized suspected illegal drugs will undergo laboratory tests as the case is being prepared. They will be charged for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

On February 9, Baliwan and his son were arrested by PDEA ARMM and Cotabato City police. – Rappler.com