Alleged ‘shabu’ peddler slain in Lucena drug sting

LUCENA CITY – Anti-illegal drugs operatives killed a suspected drug pusher in a buy-bust operation here shortly before midnight Sunday, police said.

Michael Antonio, 31, was shot and killed by policemen after he reportedly shot at authorities when he attempted to evade arrest in Barangay (village) Market View at about 11:30 p.m., Lt. Col. Reydante Ariza, Lucena police chief, said in a report Monday.

Earlier, Antonio sold “shabu” (crystal meth) to Police Staff Sgt. John Patrick Leis who acted as a drug user during the transaction.

When the suspect was about to be arrested, he reportedly struggled and ran inside his shop, took his .38 caliber revolver and fired at the arresting officer and back-up policemen but missed his targets. Leis fired back and killed the suspect on the spot.

The handgun and one plastic sachet of shabu worth P400 were seized from the slain suspect.

Police tagged the suspect, who was also a mechanic, as a notorious shabu peddler in the village who also often turned his shop into a drug den. /je