Drug user killed days after surrender

WAS IT a case of mistaken identity or was she the killers’ real target?

The case of a confessed drug user in Caloocan City who was shot dead days after she voluntarily turned herself in has puzzled investigators after they discovered that she had given a different name during her surrender.

Eleanor Ferrer-Nacion, 39, was shot dead by three unidentified men wearing bonnets who barged into her house on Riverside Libis Baesa in Barangay 160, Caloocan City, around 1:30 a.m. Sunday. The suspects immediately fled on a motorcycle.

Nacion, the owner of a retail store and piggery, left behind four children and her husband, Michael.

According to case investigator SPO4 Eduardo Tribiano, Michael has refused to talk to them.

Senior Supt. Johnson Almazan, Caloocan police chief, said that Nacion earlier surrendered to Barangay 160 chair Eric Ignacio under the city police’s Oplan Tokhang program which offers a second chance to drug users and pushers who turn themselves in voluntarily.

Nacion, however, registered herself as Rosalyn Escapon. Investigators have yet to determine why she gave a different name and if her being a drug user had anything to do with her death.

Thirty minutes before the killing of Nacion, a 19-year-old drug user was shot dead while two others were injured when two unidentified men wearing masks shot them as the victims were engaged in a drug session at Phase 9, Package 1 in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City.

Jayar Balentong died in the hospital while Bernie Ortega, 20, and Edilberto dela Rosa were wounded after the suspects repeatedly fired upon them before fleeing.

The three victims were rushed to Jose Rodriguez Hospital in Tala, Caloocan City.

At press time, Dela Rosa and Ortega were reportedly undergoing surgery for their injuries.

Found in Balentong’s possession were a sachet of suspected “shabu” or methamphetamine hydrochloride and drug paraphernalia. At the crime scene, investigators recovered four casings for a .45-cal. pistol.

Meanwhile, two drug suspects were arrested, also on Sunday, yielding a gun, a grenade, ammunition and around 38 grams of drugs.

Ace John Icban, 27, a resident of Barangay 166, and Rodelio Vinluan, 46, a tricycle driver, were caught by antidrugs policemen, according to Senior Insp. Bernard Pagaduan, chief of the Caloocan police’s anti-illegal drugs unit.

In Navotas City, around 30 drug suspects were arrested in anticrime operations led by Senior Supt. Dante Novicio, city police chief, around 4 a.m. on Sunday at Market 3 in Northbay Boulevard North.

Of the 30 people, seven were picked up for violation of the dangerous drugs law, specifically for selling and possession of illegal drugs.