POLICE intelligence operatives nabbed on Monday a member of the Maute Group during an operation in Quezon City, making the arrest the second in two months against members of the local terrorist group who are in Metro Manila.
National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Camilo Cascolan said Unday Macadato was arrested by elements of the NCRPO’s Regional Police Intelligence and Operations Unit (RPIOU) in Cubao at around 4:55 p.m. on May 7.
Macadato, believed to be a sniper of the Maute Group during the siege of Marawi City last year, was presented in Camp Crame on Tuesday by no less than Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar D. Albayalde.
Macadato was the second member of the Maute Group nabbed in Metro Manila following the arrest in March of Nasser Lomondot, a subleader of the group, who escaped to Metro Manila at the height of the battle in Marawi City last year.
Lomondot was nabbed by policemen in Tondo, Manila, along with his live-in partner.
Cascolan said members of the RPIOU, led by Insp. Segundino Bulan, responded to a text complaint from a citizen reporting that a person, who turned out to be Macadato, was displaying a firearm and threatening his neighbors along Felix Manalo Street.
“The operatives immediately responded to the complaint and arrested Unday Macadato for illegal possession of firearm and explosive,” Cascolan said.
Subsequent investigation revealed that Macadato is connected with the IS-inspired Maute Group and was involved in last year’s Marawi City siege.
“Further, custodial investigation found that Macadato was an alleged Maute member and listed in the Martial Law Instruction No. 1,” Cascolan said, referring to the arrest order issued by Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana in connection with the imposition of martial law in Mindanao following the Marawi City siege.