Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 11) — Seven men headed for Malaysia were stopped at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 early Monday afternoon on suspicions of being linked with the terror Maute group.
Five of them had the same surname as the leaders of the ISIS-linked group fighting government forces in Marawi City.
They were bound for Kuala Lumpur via Cebu Pacific flight set to depart at 2:10 p.m.
Later, three of them — Mawiyag Ibrahim Cota, Acmali Mawiyag, and Abdulcahar Racman Maute — were released by the Intelligence Service, Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) officers after confirming they had no derogatory records.
Meanwhile, the remaining four were taken to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) at Camp Crame for further investigation.
One of them is a 17-year-old who has a warrant of arrest for a drug-related crime. The three, on the other hand, are on the Philippines’ transnational crime watchlist of people connected to terror groups and activities.
CNN Philippines’ Isabella Montano and Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.
