5 men killed in drug bust

UNINTENDED TARGET A man lies dead in the street in Port Area, Manila, after he and his four cohorts reportedly fired at policemen who were after somebody else. —AFP

An entrapment operation targeting an alleged drug pusher led to a shootout between the police and five other men who ended up dead in Manila on Thursday morning.

At press time, only three have been identified as Mamatanto Pedro, Suharto Macalilay and Noarin Basilio. The two other men, one of them with a “Only God can judge me” tattoo on his body, remain unknown.

The target of the police operation, on the other hand, an alleged drug pusher identified as Ronnie delos Reyes, was placed under arrest.

The police said the shootout took place inside the shanty owned by Pedro in Vargas Compound, a slum area in Port Area, Manila. The Inquirer tried to talk to Pedro’s family but they refused.

Chief Insp. Don Salisi, head of the Manila Police District’s Ermita station antidrug division, led the police team that conducted the drug bust.

In an interview, he said their main target was Delos Santos, a suspected drug pusher also wanted for gunning down at least two people in the neighborhood last week.

During the entrapment operation, Delos Santos sold P200-worth of “shabu” (metamphetamine hydrochloride) to PO1 Rodelon Oliverio.  “After the transaction, someone shouted to Delos Santos that he was dealing with a policeman,” Salisi said.

Delos Santos was immediately arrested while the man who called his attention ran inside Pedro’s house. When Police Officers 1 Daniel Nepuscua and Daniel Miram chased him, three men on the ground floor and two others on the second floor fired at them, leading to a shootout.

Three guns and sachets of shabu were found at the scene.