Fugitive preacher wanted by FBI arrested in Philippines weeks after police standoff

(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.

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 Filipino state media.

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, with booking procedures taking place at police headquarters in Quezon City near the country’s capital, Manila, according to state media.

“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, said, according to Philippine News Agency.

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 had surrounded the church compound, where Quiboloy was believed to be hiding, in a violent standoff with the preacher’s followers. His followers allegedly threw stones at officers and blocked a highway with burning tyres, Davao police said on Facebook.

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.” Quiboloy has denied all the charges against him.

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CNN’s Kathleen Magramo contributed to this report.