Military intelligence network might now be sniffing on the logistics profile of the Abu Sayyaf Group and drug rings sneaking in vital areas of the Visayas.

Some classified information had it that the ASG could have been mapping the drug rings’ route and operation radius.

The information also had it that the ASG spots areas where there is perceived dissidence within the established system of the government.

Some ASG informants reportedly concluded carelessly that proliferation of illegal drugs in an area is an indicator that the government has less control on the people.

This conclusion was mistakenly linked by the ASG to some information that their providers of firearms were also the providers of firearms to drug rings.

The ASG was allegedly provided with wrong information that Bohol and Cebu have been top markets of illegal drugs in the country, tempting the bandits to consider these provinces as fertile ground for indoctrination.

The classified information also had it that ASG got weak intelligence network in spotting for stronghold expansion in the Visayas, owing to wrong choice of conduits and language barriers.

The ASG allegedly managed to recruit only desperate informants from the Visayas who had limited understanding of how the government system works.

On the other hand, a different information had it that the ASG indoctrination sub-sector made test-runs on the vulnerability of target areas by fielding drug runners who could handle high-caliber firearms and “trust”.

Another sub-sector takes charge of testing the government’s response to killings.

The ASG, allegedly, is trying to evolve from being solely sea-borne bandits into a multi-faceted terrorist network.

The bandits have also allegedly tried to divide the attention of the military by launching separate attacks at the same time or at least in days with short intervals in different areas, so that the government has to scatter its military and police forces.

Its indoctrination sector also allegedly targets poor farmers whom they can entice through an offer of livelihood and later train into warriors hoarding grudge against the government.

This way, they can manipulate the recruits into aggressive combatants.

A classified information also had it that Joselito Melloria’s group was not yet ready to launch kidnapping modus or bomb attack in Bohol during the Holy Week or the ASEAN event.

They allegedly just came to lie low from the military’s prying eyes in Mindanao and this was the reason Melloria had high-ranking and influential ASG members in tow.

Moreover, if they would find the residents receptive of their doctrines, they intended to train bomb-makers and spread distorted Islam teachings through the Quran or firearms.

The group allegedly had relied too much on Melloria’s information about the hospitability of Boholanos.

The armed men, however, allegedly got a tip from a sympathizer that their presence was already reported to authorities and so they stayed up that night on April 10 until the encounter, indeed, occurred at 5 a.m. on April 11 in Inabanga.