Radio man tapped as police witness in drug raid injured when suspect tries to flee

ZAMBOANGA CITY—-A radio reporter, who was tapped by police to act as witness in an anti-drug operation, suffered head and back injuries when a suspect cornered in a drug raid on Thursday (Feb. 13) tried to flee.

Maj. Edwin Duco, Zamboanga police spokesperson, said Daryll Canillo, reporter of radio station 89.9 Brigada FM-Zamboanga, was watching the police operation from a 12-foot high flood control structure.

Duco said police were already finishing an inventory of drugs seized from suspect Bryan Alejandro Lacastesantos when the suspect tried to flee, running to the direction of Canillo.

Lacastesantos bumped into Canillo, causing the two to fall from where Canillo was standing. Lacastesantos fell on top of Canillo, who suffered head and back injuries and rushed to the Zamboanga Doctor’s Hospital for emergency treatment.

Canillo is one of the media men who were tapped by police to act as witness, during news coverage, in anti-drug operations.

The raid was launched 2 a.m. on Thursday with the city police’s Special Anti-Drug Enforcement Team, headed by Capt. Alvin Cabaycruz, leading the operation.

The operation led to the arrest of Lacastesantos, a 31-year-old electrician who yielded five sachets with 13 grams of suspected crystal meth or shabu worth around P88,000.

Edited by TSB