Suspected leader of drug group killed in Cainta, 5 others arrested

SCREENGRAB from the EPD-CIDG

The leader of an alleged drug trafficking group in Cainta, Rizal, was shot dead while five other alleged members were arrested by the police on Friday evening.

The police said the group includes a 22-year-old birthday celebrator and a balut (aborted duck’s egg) vendor who reportedly sells balut and shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) at the same time.

Randay “Kamote” Santos, 35, the alleged leader of the Kamote Drug Trafficking Group, was shot dead by the police, said Chief Inspector Rommel Macatlang, head of the Eastern Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Santos reportedly was the first to fire shots at the police during a buy-bust operation on Glass Extension, Lakas Bisig, Brgy. San Andres in Cainta, Rizal.

Macatlang said Santos sold a sachet of shabu to a policeman posing as buyer at around 9 pm. Discovering it’s a police operation, Santos fired three successive shots at the policemen who returned fire, hitting him in the chest.

Santos, who was under the CIDG and Cainta Police’s drug watch list, was the initial subject of the buy-bust operation. The CIDG also arrested five more of Santos’s companions who were having a pot session inside a makeshift house, Macatlang said.

Arrested were Raymond Garcia, 27, a resident of Floodway, Pasig City, who hid inside the comfort room of a neighboring house; Robert Anthony Perez, 29; balut vendor Michael Hancorda, 31; Harold Jemino, 22 and birthday celebrator Jewelry Balinag, 22, of Maybunga, Pasig.

At the CIDG office in the Pasig police headquarters were some of the suspects’ family members and relatives to assist them.

Speaking to Inquirer at the CIDG office, Balinag’s mother Eleanor said her son, before the alleged shootout, told her that he would just go out of the house to celebrate his birthday with some friends.

As a gift, she even provided him food to share with his friends.

She admitted her son was using illegal drugs and has long been advised to stop and surrender. “I hope they will just offer my son drug rehabilitation,” she added.

Jemino’s mother Julieta said she did not know her son was using illegal drugs. “He just asked for P100 from me before he left our home as he will be joining his friend on his birthday,” she said.

According to initial investigations, Macatlang said Hancorda was not only using shabu but also peddled shabu while selling balut.

Hancorda’s wife, who is seven-month pregnant, denied allegations her husband is a drug pusher.

Recovered from the crime scene were a .38-caliber revolver with three fired cartridges and two live cartridges, weighing scale, lighters and various drug paraphernalia, P800 buy-bust money and nine plastic sachets of shabu.

The five who underwent inquest proceedings on Saturday morning are facing probable charges for violations of sections 5, 11, 12 and 15 of RA 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act. TVJ