By Edwin Fernandez

ILLEGAL ITEMS. A PDEA agent arranges the illegal drugs and a rifle seized from a suspected drug den operator in Maguindanao del Sur on Wednesday (Aug. 27, 2025). The drug peddler was killed after resisting arrest and firing at law enforcement officers during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Nunangan, Datu Anggal Midtimbang. (PDEA-BARMM photo)

COTABATO CITY – A suspected drug den operator and big-time peddler of prohibited drugs was killed after trading shots with law enforcement officers during a buy-bust operation in Maguindanao del Sur on Wednesday afternoon.

Director Gil Cesario Castro of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-BARMM) identified the slain suspect as “Alias Dhats,” a resident of Nunangan, Datu Anggal Midtimbang town.

“He resisted arrest and fired at our approaching law enforcers,” Castro said in a report released Thursday. Joint police, Army and PDEA operatives returned fire, injuring Alias Dhats.

He was rushed to a hospital in Cotabato City but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Authorities seized 18 sachets of shabu in retail packages from the drug den, along with mobile phones, drug paraphernalia and an M14 rifle with ammunition.

Three patrons, including a 32-year-old female client, were arrested. The slain drug peddler was among the high-value individuals on the PDEA watch list. (PNA)