COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A known shabu dealer, long under surveillance by the police, was killed in an ambush in Barangay Bunged in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte on Thursday, February 5. Local executives and traditional Moro leaders in Datu Odin Sinsuat told reporters on Friday that they are certain that the fatal ambush of the victim, whom they identified only as Jaybee, is related to his involvement in the trafficking of narcotics in the municipality. Barangay officials and investigators from the Datu Odin Sinsuat Municipal Police Station who responded to the incident said the victim was riding a motorcycle when he was attacked by gunmen at a stretch of a farm-to-market road in Barangay Bunged, killing him instantly. Barangay officials told reporters that his attackers immediately escaped, leaving him lifeless. Local executives and officials of intelligence units of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in the neighboring Maguindanao del Norte and in Cotabato City said the slain Jaybee was involved in the peddling of shabu in both areas by a clandestine group linked to remnants of the now defunct Dawlah Islamiya terror group.

Source: Philippine Star February 06, 2026 10:14 UTC