1 more drug suspect slain in Cavite bust

LUCENA CITY –– Another alleged drug pusher was killed in a buy-bust operation that ended in an armed encounter in General Trias City in Cavite province on Thursday, Feb. 18.

Colonel Marlon Santos, Cavite police chief, said in a report that the unidentified slain suspect was killed in a drug sting at 4:26 a.m. The report did not provide details about the operation.

The slain suspect was the seventh killed in a series of buy-bust operations in Cavite in the past four days.

On Feb. 18, two alleged shabu (crystal meth) peddlers were killed when they allegedly resisted arrest and engaged policemen in firefights after drug sting operations in Bacoor City and Tanza town.

The day before, the police reported that another unidentified drug suspect classified as a “high-value” target was killed in a buy-bust operation in Cavite City.

On Feb. 16, the Cavite police reported the killing of three other drug suspects in separate buy-bust operations that also ended in armed encounters in General Trias City and the towns of Indang and Naic.

The police also arrested 30 suspected pushers in 19 buy-bust operations in different parts of the province during the past 24 hours, Santos said.

Authorities confiscated 93 packets of shabu but did not specify the volume of drugs and their value in the street market.

The police also arrested 14 wanted criminals, 13 illegal gamblers, five suspects in various crimes, and two illegal gun holders, and seized one caliber .45 pistol and one caliber .22 revolver, and several bullets.

At least 65 individuals were accosted for violating the COVID-19 community health protocols of wearing face masks or following the curfew.

LZB