Cellphone thief, 2 drug suspects slain in Laguna anti-drug operations

SAN PEDRO CITY – Two suspected drug pushers and an alleged thief were killed in separate shootouts with the police hours apart in adjacent cities in Laguna province, early on Friday.

Reports from the Calabarzon police said anti-drug operations were conducted between 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. in the cities of Cabuyao and Biñan.

Mark Lorence Magno was killed after putting up a fight with the police in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Bugtong in Cabuyao City.

The police recovered from him a .38 caliber gun and 11 sachets of suspected shabu (crystal meth) kept in a red envelope.

In Biñan City, the police shot and killed Michael Karikitan in a shootout in Barangay San Antonio. Jeffrey Cula, Karikitan’s companion, and six others were arrested in that drug operation.

About an hour earlier, a still unidentified man was killed while his male companion escaped a shootout around 2 a.m. in Barangay Balibago, Sta. Rosa City.

According to the report, a woman named Criselda Jimenez sought police help after the suspects allegedly snatched her cellphone on the road.

Policemen manning a checkpoint in the vicinity spotted the suspects who, they claimed, began to shoot the authorities.

In San Mateo, Rizal, construction worker Noel David was slain in a buy-bust operation around 6:30 a.m. Thursday in Barangay Silangan. The police said they recovered a .38 caliber gun and nine sachets of alleged shabu.