10 firearms seized from 2 'suspicious' vans near Cotabato town hall

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At least 10 high-powered firearms were seized from two suspiciously parked vans near the municipal hall of Midsayap, Cotabato, police said.

According to an exclusive report by Emil Sumangil on "24 Oras Weekend" on Sunday, personnel of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) confiscated several 5.56 mm automatic rifles, .45-caliber pistols, magazines, and ammunition from the vehicles.

Police received reports of suspicious vehicles allegedly circling the vicinity of the municipal hall.

“Nakakita sila ng medyo suspicious vehicles along the highway at medyo illegally parked so sinita po nila ito kung saan in plain view may nakita po sila na baril sa loob,” PNP-HPG Director Police Brigadier General Joyce Patrick Sangalang said.

(Police personnel spotted suspicious vehicles along the highway that were illegally parked, so they approached them. They then saw firearms in plain view inside the vehicles.)

The seized firearms were placed under the custody of the PNP-HPG.

“Anim po dito ay unregistered at ‘yung dalawa ay with expired licenses. Inaalam po natin kung ito ay may koneksyon sa naganap na eleksyon,” Sangalang said.

(Six of these are unregistered, while two have expired licenses. We are determining whether these are connected to the recent elections.)

Three men were arrested during the operation.

GMA News has reached out to the arrested individuals for comment. — Lyjah Tiffany Bonzo/MCG, GMA News

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