200 cops clash with Tagum drug traffickers

TAGUM CITY—In what could be the biggest anti-illegal drugs operation in the region in recent years, over 200 lawmen swooped down on 12 areas in a coastal village here early Tuesday, killing one person and arresting at least seven suspected traffickers.

Sporadic gunfire erupted after several armed men fired at policemen, narcotics agents and other law enforcers who arrived in Barangay (village) Madaum around 5 a.m., authorities said.

“So far, one (suspect) is dead and another was wounded as of

8 a.m.,” Mayor Allan Rellon said. He did not identify the casualties.

An undetermined number of suspected illegal drugs, paraphernalia and several high-powered weapons were seized, he added.

The operation stemmed from complaints by residents about the presence of an alleged “shabu tiangge” (flea market) in Madaum, where illegal drugs were being sold openly, according to the mayor.

In one raided area, police stumbled upon a shack covered with tents used as a drug session den. Inside the hut, drug paraphernalia were strewn about, indicating that its occupants had hastily fled upon sensing the presence of lawmen.

Members of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Southern Mindanao led the operation by virtue of search warrants against suspected drug personalities in the area, said Insp. Anjanette Tirador, Tagum City police spokesperson.

They were backed up by personnel from the PNP Regional Public Safety Battalion, PNP Maritime Group, Special Action Force and the Davao del Norte Provincial Public Safety Company and the Tagum police.

Tirador did not identify those arrested. Several others were believed to have escaped the police dragnet.

Among the weapons seized were rocket-propelled grenade rounds, rifles and handguns, said Chief Insp. Francis Sonza, CIDG regional operations chief and provincial head.

Officials credited reports sent by residents through text messages to the “success” of the operation.