2 pushers ‘with gun, grenade’ add to Manila cops’ kills

TWO alleged drug pushers armed with a gun and a grenade were killed in a buy-bust operation by the Manila Police District (MPD)  on Monday  night.

Gerald Gervacio and a man known only by his alias “Usher” reportedly threatened the life of PO2 Rey Muñoz, a member of the MPD-Sta. Cruz station, in a drug transaction around  10 p.m.  at H. Cano compound on Quezon Boulevard.

A report by PO2 Ryan Jay Balagtas of MPD homicide section said the operation stemmed from a tip from a confidential informant.

Gervacio was demanding payment when he “noticed the back-up operatives… and sensed that the poseur buyer [was] an undercover [agent].” He pulled out his gun while Usher produced a grenade, prompting Muñoz to shoot both of them, Balagtas said.

Meanwhile, the MPD arrested nine drug suspects in Sta. Cruz in separate operations within a 24-hour period starting  5 a.m.  of Aug. 22.

They included Sandy Castillo, who was accosted on Quezon Boulevard for alleged possession of dried marijuana; Robert Galvan who has arrested near Bilibid Viejo for alleged possession of two sachets of shabu; and a group of seven men — Renato Conocido, Alvin Negado, Benedict Arbio, Lauro Loriao, Ronnel Rudente, Akie Buenaflor, and Yumico Monreal — who were rounded up on Basal street for possession of drug paraphernalia.