A top police official said Wednesday that one of the country's most wanted fugitives was apprehended during an intensified anti-crime operation in Tawi-Tawi province.
Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr., director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), said Faisal Kasim Isnain was nabbed at around 4:21 p.m. by a team of CIDG operatives from Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi (BaSulTa) and Zamboanga Sibugay Provincial Field Units and local policemen. Saturday in the Tawi-Tawi island town of Mapun, Barangay Lupa Pula.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has designated Isnain as a "national level most wanted person."
According to Caramat, Isnain was arrested in 2018 after a regional court in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, issued an arrest warrant for rape and murder. Bail has not been recommended.
Isnain is also accused of being a member of the Barahama Ali Group, which is involved in a variety of crimes such as kidnapping, robbery, drug trafficking, and car theft.
After perpetrating the crime, Isnain, who is from Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, allegedly fled to the island settlement of Mapun.
According to police records, Isnain and two other people are accused of killing Geron Labian in Ipil in May 2005. They then sexually assaulted Labian's buddy, a 17-year-old.
The head of the Philippine National Police, General Rodolfo Azurin Jr., praised the CIDG units and local police, adding that their anti-criminality operations show a commitment to seeing that offenders are brought to justice.
