Cebu police kill 4 crime suspects, arrest 2 others
By Chito O. AragonInquirer Visayas
CONSOLACION TOWN, Cebu—Four alleged members of a criminal group were killed in a clash with police during a raid on the suspects’ houses early Thursday in this northern town.
Several firearms, hand grenades and packs of white powdery substance believed to be shabu were recovered during the raid in Sitio Gumamela, Barangay (village) Polpogan, said Supt. Rodolfo Albotra, chief of the intelligence branch of the provincial police.
One of the slain suspects was identified as Vicente Bayon Judaya. Roger Linabog, village chief of Polpogan, identified the three other slain suspects as Ian Siacol, Rene Boy Tarriao and Jerson Resma.
Two suspects were arrested—Elvira Manlisi and Jerry Bugtai. One suspect, Boyet Arriba, escaped.
Supt. Albotra said Arriba is believed to be the leader of the group involved in illegal drugs and assassinations.
According to Albotra, two of the slain suspects—Judaya and Bugtai—are members of Arriba’s group. Judaya had tried to shield Arriba during the gunfight, according to police. Manlisi, according to Albotra, is Arriba’s lover.
Search warrant
The police raided the area after Judge Teresita Galanida, of the Regional Trial Court of Mandaue City, issued a search warrant.
Police teams swooped down on the suspects’ houses starting at 4 a.m. in Polpogan, a poor village more than a kilometer from the main highway.
One of the slain suspects, Judaya, was repacking shabu in his shanty when the police came. He fired first, forcing police to shoot and kill him.
The three other slain suspects—Siacol, Tarriao and Resma—also shot it out with the police and were killed in the gunfire.
Graduation day
Judaya’s wife, Anabelle, said she had asked her husband to stop dealing illegal drugs but he refused to listen. She said yesterday was supposed to be a special day because their daughter was graduating from elementary school.
Bugtai denied involvement in illegal drugs and owning any of the weapons that police seized from his house.
“I don’t know anything about that,” he said. But Bugtai said Arriba, indeed, is a known drug dealer in the area.
Originally posted at 05:09 pm | Thursday, March 21, 2013
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