3 dead, 32 arrested in Cavite drug operation

SAN PEDRO CITY — Three people were killed while 32 others, among them a former anti-narcotics agent, were arrested in separate police operations in Cavite province.

In Dasmariñas City, the suspect identified only as “Dodi Daga” was killed in a buy bust operation around 3:30 a.m. Sunday in Barangay (village) Paliparan 1.

Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon police, said the suspect tried to put up a fight with the undercover policemen, prompting the shootout. The police recovered a sachet of suspected “shabu” (crystal meth).

In Bacoor City, suspect Diego Ramos was the target of a buy bust operation around 1 a.m. in Barangay Molino 2. Eleazar said that police were about to arrest Ramos when he ran away, prompting a chase towards Magdiwang road. When cornered, the suspect fired at the policemen, who returned fire and killed Ramos.

In General Trias City, illegal drug suspect Crisenciano Regondola was also killed in a shootout around noon Saturday in Barangay Manggahan. The police were supposed to serve a search warrant when the suspect opened fire. Regondola was hit when the authorities shot back, and he died upon arriving at the hospital. Recovered from him were a .38 caliber gun, an improvised gun, and two sachets of suspected shabu.

Meanwhile, 32 others were arrested in separate anti-drug operations in the province over the weekend, Eleazar said.

Among them was Noli Rodriguez, a former member of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, who was arrested with five others in an alleged drug den in Barangay Queensrow East, Bacoor City around 1 p.m. Saturday.

Jun Paul Santilla, a former overseas Filipino worker who returned from Saudi Arabia last year, was arrested when police found four sachets of suspected shabu from his home in Barangay Sungay East, Tagaytay City around 8 a.m. Saturday.

In Magallanes town, the police arrested Alexis Reyes in Barangay Poblacion 4 around 9 p.m. Saturday. Eleazar, in the same report, said police were tipped off by the community about Reyes, who had been hiding from the authorities since his involvement in a shooting incident in Makati City last February. The suspect was also allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade. /je