2 drug pushers slain in Lucena buy-busts

FILE PHOTO

LUCENA CITY, Philippines – Anti-illegal drugs operatives killed two suspected shabu peddlers in separate buy-bust operations here on Tuesday, police said.

Oscar Perlada, 41, was killed in a reported shoot out with policemen after he allegedly sold shabu to an undercover police officer in Barangay 10 at about 6:20 p.m., Police Lt. Col. Reydante Ariza, Lucena police chief, said in a report Wednesday.

Perlada was about to be arrested by police when he reportedly resisted, ran to a table and grabbed a “sumpak” (home-made shotgun). He allegedly shot at the police but missed.

Another policeman returned fire and killed the suspect on the spot.

Authorities found a gun and a plastic sachet of shabu weighing 0.46 grams from the slain suspect, who was a former convict in an illegal possession of firearm case.

Earlier, Leo Basa, 33, was also killed by policemen after he allegedly resisted arrest in Barangay Dalahican at about 12:40 p.m.

Basa sold suspected shabu to an undercover police and fired when he was about to be arrested while trying to escape, police said. Arresting officers were forced to retaliate, killing Basa instantly.

A caliber .38 revolver and a plastic sachet containing P500 worth of shabu were reportedly taken from him.

Police tagged Basa as a notorious drug pusher in the coastal village. He was also on the police drugs watch list.

The illegal drug trade remains rampant in the city despite a bloody police campaign.

Since President Duterte started his anti-illegal drug war, an estimated 60 suspected drug pushers in the city have been killed in police operations.

Some families of slain suspects claimed that the alleged pushers did not resist arrest but were summarily killed by the police.

Reydante insisted on the legitimacy of their operation and the authenticity of their reports. /cbb