Drug suspect dead, 17 busted in Cavite encounter

LUCENA CITY –– A drug suspect was killed when he engaged police in a gunfight after a buy-bust operation in Cavite province.

Cavite police chief Colonel Marlon Santos said Erwin Armie Mojica was killed after resisting arrest and firing at policemen during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Olaes in General Mariano Alvarez (GMA) town on March 15.

The report was posted on the police public information office’s Facebook page on March 16.

A loaded caliber .38 gun, two fired cartridges from the same gun, and a sachet of shabu (crystal meth) worth P40,800 in the street market were reportedly recovered from the slain suspect.

The police also arrested 17 drug suspects after eight sting operations in the cities of Imus and Cavite and the towns of Carmona, Kawit, Tanza, and GMA.

Authorities confiscated 26 sachets of shabu, six sachets of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and cash believed to be from the sale of illegal drugs.

The report did not specify the volume of drugs and their value in the street market.

The police also arrested nine wanted criminals and two other crime suspects.

Meanwhile, 439 individuals were accosted in different parts of the province for violating health protocols against coronavirus disease.

The violators paid fines or rendered community service in their respective municipalities for not wearing face masks and violating curfew hours, the police said.

LZB