ZAMBOANGA CITY – A detainee of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Western Mindanao was killed after allegedly trying to stab with a roof nail the agency’s deputy regional director on Thursday evening.
In a statement furnished the police, the PDEA said the incident took place around 7 p.m. inside its office in Barangay Upper Calarian here.
The PDEA said Abdulmuhmin Ramos Sumampil, 36, a resident of Basilan, was being questioned at the prison guard office after he “volunteer(ed) to give information in connection (with) his illegal drug source.”
“…While inside the room, Sumampil requested to transfer (the position of) his handcuff to the front so he can sketch the house of his source,” the anti-drug agency said.
Instead of making a sketch, Sumampil – who was arrested in a buy-bust operation here on on August 13 – allegedly took a pointed metal object from his pocket and tried but failed to stab deputy director Levi Sotelo Ortiz in the neck. That metal object turned out to be a roof nail.
“(Ortiz) was able to evade the attack and in defense he was able to shoot the said detainee,” Supt. Luisito Magnaye, the city police director, said, quoting the PDEA statement.
Sumampil died from two gun shot wounds on his body.
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Sumampil’s father, Mannan, said prior to his son’s death, some PDEA elements asked them for money.
“I know my son, he was an addict. In fact I was thankful to PDEA when they arrested my son because I have strong reasons to put him in rehab. But to kill him while he was under their custody, and these PDEA people demanded money from us, very unforgivable,” Mannan, president of the village chairs of Lamitan City, said.
He said when his son was arrested on August 13, some “PDEA people” called them up and were told to prepare P100,000.
“We only managed to produce P30,000. We told them to pursue the case against my son and after the case, we will bring him to a rehab center,” Mannan said.
The PDEA regional office has yet to issue a comment.
Mannan said he thought everything was going well until they learned that his son had been shot dead./rga
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