Integrity police arrest BARMM highway patrol cop over robbery, extortion

GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines – Gunfire rang out during an entrapment operation set to arrest alleged “dirty cops” at the headquarters of the Bangsamoro Regional Highway Patrol Unit (RHPU) on Friday night, April 12.

No one was seriously hurt in the fracas but a highway patrol cop, who allegedly fired the shots, got injured when he fell from the stairs of the police headquarters.

After the scuffle, members of the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) were able to arrest Master Sergeant Nassrollah Gani at the RHPU headquarters located inside a police camp in PC Hill, Cotabato City.

Gani is one of five RHPU policemen who were named in a robbery-extortion complaint filed by a car owner, said Lieutenant Colonel Aldrin Abila, IMEG Mindanao acting chief.

During the entrapment, policemen recovered from Gani P18,000 cash, two cellular phones, keys to a Toyota car, a Zigana PX-9 caliber 9mm pistol, a Galil assault rifle, and assorted bullets.

When asked about the accusations against him, Gani declined to comment, telling media that he would still have to get a lawyer.

Four of Gani’s companions are now the subject of a manhunt, Abila told local broadcaster DXMS Radyo Bida on Saturday, April 13.

Gani and his companion cops allegedly demanded P50,000 from a car owner in exchange for the release of a Honda sedan that they earlier impounded for alleged illegal license plate transfer, Abila said.

An entrapment was set up for the purported payoff at the RHPU headquarters, the police official said. 

The police official declined to name the car owner for security reasons.

Abila said they also arrested RHPU cop Executive Master Sergeant Benigno Mercado and booked him for direct assault for firing his gun at the arresting police officers.

Mercado is not included in the list of five robbery-extortion suspects, Abila said.