ZAMBOANGA CITY, 6 November 2003 — The military has intensified its intelligence operation against the Abu Sayyaf following the arrest of a Filipino-American allegedly selling illegal weapons to the Al-Qaeda-linked bandit group, officials said.
Security forces have arrested Victor Moore Infante on Monday in the southern port city of Zamboanga for selling arms to the extremist group.
The 34-year old man was tagged by authorities as “one of America’s most wanted fugitives.”
His arrest was made secret and announced only yesterday by the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation. Infante, who was reported to have traveled to Basilan Island, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group, had been deported to Guam late Tuesday on a chartered flight.
Federal agents escorted the Filipino-American, who was also suspected of planning to smuggle illegal drugs to the Philippines.
US authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of Infante in New York after Customs men in July seized one of his package from Oakland containing weapons’ parts addressed to his safehouse in Zamboanga City.
“His arrest and deportation is another big step in our campaign against terrorism because this man is known to have aided the Abu Sayyaf in acquiring weapons used by the group in committing atrocities against our soldiers and civilians,” Philippine immigration chief Andrea Domingo said in a statement yesterday.
The United States last year included the Abu Sayyaf in its list of foreign terrorist organization, along side with the Al-Qaeda network and the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiya. Philippine authorities tagged the group as behind the kidnapping and killing of two US hostages Guillermo Sobero and Martin Burnham in Mindanao.
