Apollo Quiboloy, the influential Philippine pastor and longtime ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte, has been arrested after a police operation at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao City, authorities said.

Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos announced the arrest in a brief social media post on Sunday, while regional police director Nicolas Torre later confirmed that Quiboloy had been taken into custody after, he said, surrendering to authorities. The government did not immediately say exactly where the arrest happened.

The detention ended a tense operation that had lasted about two weeks at the sprawling church-owned compound in Duterte’s southern stronghold. Earlier on Sunday, authorities deployed at least 3,000 police officers to the site, where Quiboloy had been believed to be hiding in a bunker. The size of the deployment had already drawn criticism from Duterte and his allies, who described the effort as excessive.

Quiboloy has been one of the most politically connected religious figures in the Philippines. He called himself the “appointed son of God” and the “owner of the universe,” and his relationship with Duterte helped give him influence far beyond the church. Duterte, both as mayor of Davao and later as president, frequently appeared on Quiboloy’s television station and relied on the broadcaster to support his hardline drug war, which left thousands dead.

The pastor is facing child sex trafficking charges in the Philippines and separate charges in the United States. Philippine authorities say the Department of Justice charged him in June with sex abuse, leading to an arrest warrant. In 2021, the US Justice Department charged him with sex trafficking girls and women aged 12 to 25, alleging that some were required to have sex with him while serving as “pastorals,” or personal assistants.

The dispute around his fate also had an international dimension. Quiboloy had previously asked for a guarantee that he would not be extradited if he surrendered, and he accused the Marcos government of conspiring with the FBI and CIA to hand him over to the Americans. Officials did not address those claims in the arrest announcement.

The arrest is likely to intensify scrutiny of a figure who has long fused religion, media power and politics. It also marks a major step in a case that has moved slowly but steadily through the Philippine legal system, while the church leader remained a central and polarizing figure in his hometown and across the country.