Fugitive preacher wanted by FBI arrested in Philippines after fraught standoff between police and supporters

(CNN) — Filipino pastor Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is wanted by both the FBI and local law enforcement officers on sexual abuse and human trafficking charges, has been arrested weeks after a standoff with the police.

The arrest concludes a fraught showdown between the pastor’s supporters and police who had surrounded a compound in the country’s south where Quiboloy had holed up.

In posts on Facebook, the Philippines’ Interior Minister Benhur Abolos, confirmed that the preacher, who had been on the run for three years, “has been caught.”

National police arrested Quiboloy, a self-styled “appointed son of God” and founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church (KOJC), along with four of his aides in the southern city of Davao after they surrendered, according to state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA).

At 1:30 p.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET), the detainees were issued a 24-hour ultimatum to come out from the church’s sprawling 30-hectare (75 acre) compound. They surrendered four hours later, Philippine News Agency reported.

They have since been transported out of Davao by military aircraft and arrived at the national police headquarters in Manila on Sunday night, along with four of his aides, PNA reported.

“I thank him (Quiboloy) for the realization to face the law. I also thanked the KOJC members and supporters for their cooperation and I hope this is the start of healing,” Director of Police Regional Office 11, Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, PNA reported.

Police had been attempting to arrest the preacher and five of his alleged accomplices in a raid that began more than two weeks ago in Davao.

Nearly 2,000 officers surrounded the church compound where Quiboloy was believed to be hiding. His followers allegedly threw stones at officers and blocked a highway with burning tyres, Davao police said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told reporters on Monday it was a relief that Quiboloy had been arrested after a massive police and army operation and added the pastor was entitled to due process.

“Although he is a very prominent person… we will treat him like any other arrested person and will respect his rights. We will go through the process. The process will be transparent. Everyone who is involved will be accountable,” he said.

Quiboloy’s lawyer Israelito Torreon said the pastor “chose to surrender because he does not want the lawless violence to continue within the KOJC Compound,” state broadcaster PTV reported.

A 2021 US indictment accused the 74-year-old preacher and his alleged accomplices of running a sex trafficking ring that coerced girls and young women to have sex with him under threats of “eternal damnation” for nearly 15 years. Quiboloy has denied all the charges against him.

He is also accused of conducting a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the US using fraudulently obtained visas and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity based in California, according to US prosecutors.

Quiboloy founded the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church in 1985 and rose to prominence as televangelism gained popularity in the Philippines, a majority-Catholic country where millions also follow a plethora of Christian sects.

The church, which claims to have seven million followers worldwide, runs businesses including a college, resort and media outlets in the Philippines, according to its official website.

Quiboloy is a close supporter and spiritual adviser of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who regularly appeared on a church-linked media network when he was mayor of Davao, a testing ground for Duterte’s controversial war on drugs that rights groups say later resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings.

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