PDEA says gunmen in Tondo ambush of businessman not its agents

PDEA chief Aaron Aquino. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) denied on Monday that the gunmen in the ambush of a businessman in Tondo, Manila were its agents.

Melchor Almazan, a 48-year-old owner of a trucking service business, was gunned down by four men on Friday.

Two of the gunmen wore pure green shirts with a PDEA logo, while the other two wore black shirts and bull caps also with the logo of the agency.

“Hindi namin ahente iyan dahil unang una, hindi iyan ang uniporme na ginagamit namin,” PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said in an interview over DZMM.

According to Aquino, the official PDEA shirt has black and green colors. He said their agents also wear black pants during operations, not jeans as what the gunmen wore during the incident.

Aquino said criminals sometimes wear uniforms of law enforcement agents for people not to suspect their presence in the area where they would carry out the crime.

He said the PDEA will cooperate with other law enforcement agencies in investigating the incident. (Editor: Julie Espinosa)