Balut vendor on drug watch list slain in Marikina

A balut vendor who the police said was on their drug watch list was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Marikina on Wednesday night. The Marikina police chief Senior Supt. Roger Quesada, said 40-year-old Teody Cruz of Cruz Street, Barangay Sto. Niño, was buying at a sari-sari store near his house around 10:45 p.m. when two men on a motorbike approached him. One of the men shot him several times in the body before fleeing with his partner. In an interview with the Inquirer, Quesada said Cruz was a balut vendor who was on the local drug watch list as a pusher. The officer said the victim earlier surrendered under the “Oplan Tokhang” campaign but was reported to have resumed his illegal trade. Eight bullet casings and dried marijuana leaves wrapped in a piece of paper were recovered at the crime scene. —Jodee A. Agoncillo