Another P10-M shabu recovered from Marawi City vice mayor's house

Police on Saturday recovered two kilograms of shabu worth P10 million from a house owned by Marawi City Vice Mayor Arafat Salic.

Kilo kilong shabu narekober ng PNP DEG sa bahay ni Marawi City Vice Mayor Arafat Salic @dzbb pic.twitter.com/Ju1i2j1BNU

— Allan Gatus (@allangatus) June 24, 2017

Radio dzBB's William Gatus reported that the shabu were seized from the house of Salic in Barangay Kabingan, MSU Compound in Marawi City.

Chief Inspector William Santos of the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group said that the drugs were recovered as authorities continue house-to-house search in the besieged city.

"Nag-conduct pa rin tayo ng house-to-house search especially sa Barangay Kabingan at doon nag-clearing tayo sa mga bahay hanggang sa marating nga natin ang bahay ni former mayor [Fajad] Salic at tsaka bahay ni honorable Arafat Salic, incumbent vice mayor of Marawi city," Santos said.

Police recently arrested former mayor Salic for alleged rebellion. Drugs and firearms had been recovered from his house.

Santos said the former mayor and the incumbent vice mayor are siblings.

On Friday, police also recovered two kilograms of shabu from the house of former Marawi City mayor Omar Solitario Ali, an alleged financier of the Maute group.

Maute staging area

Santos said that the vice mayor is an alleged supporter of the ISIS-linked group Maute and also included in the list of officials involved in drug trade.

"Yes supporter din siya ng Maute katulad ng kapatid niya na nahuli na. Yung sa bahay mismo ni Vice Mayor Salic makikita natin na naka-recover tayo ng mga foil dito sa loob ng bahay niya may mga nakasulat na 'I love ISIS'," Santos said.

"Ibig sabihin doon nag-staging area sa bahay niya sa MSU compound," he added.

A spot check and an initial test by the authorities confirmed that the seized shabu were "high grade."

Lumalabas sa pagsusuri ng SOCO na positibong shabu ang narekober sa bahay ng bise alkalde ng Marawi City @dzbb pic.twitter.com/3AnLknWL10

— Allan Gatus (@allangatus) June 24, 2017

The Maute group attacked the city on May 23, prompting President Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law in Mindanao.

More than 300 people, mostly members of the Maute group, have been killed in the ongoing conflict. —Marlly Rome C. Bondoc/ALG, GMA News