No. 1 drug suspect in Ormoc City shot dead by cops

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

ORMOC CITY — The man considered to be the number one drug trafficking suspect here was killed in a shootout with members of the City Public Safety Command (CPSC) about 1:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Mario Dumaguit Sr., 54, allegedly fired at the policemen who went to his house on Mabini St., District  4, to implement a search warrant, said Supt. Joel Camacho, CPSC chief.

Camacho said PO3 Cyrus Canonego was hit in the abdomen but he was then wearing a bullet-proof vest and was not wounded.

He said Dumaguit ran toward the back of his house but the raiding team caught up with him and shot him. The suspect fell on one of the pens for his fighting cocks.

Dumaguit was still holding a .38-caliber revolver while a 9mm KG-9 submachine gun with a silencer was seen on his knee.

A search inside the house yielded a Maverick shotgun with two live ammunition, a .40-caliber pistol with two units of magazine assembly and 43 live ammunition, P16,000 in cash and drug paraphernalia.

Dumaguit’s wife, Jocela, is District 4 chair.

Both were among those who surrendered to the police during the Oplan Tokhang, a  campaign where policemen would knock on the doors of drug suspects and ask them to surrender and change their ways.

A tarpaulin that bore his affidavit of undertaking that he would no longer engage in the illegal drugs trade was posted on the bamboo gate of his house.

His son, Mario Jr., was arrested by the police during a buy-bust last week.  SFM/rga