QCPD antidrug operations leave 12 dead

A dozen drug suspects were killed in separate operations conducted by the Quezon City police within a 24-hour period, the single biggest death toll in the city since the start of the war on drugs.

At 1:15 a.m. on Sunday, a joint team from the District Anti-Illegal Drugs-Special Operations Task Group and District Special Operations Unit shot dead Charlie Lorenzo and Telemaccus Esmilla whose names were on the drug watch list of Barangay Manresa.

Recovered from the pair were four sachets of suspected “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) and two guns.

In Barangays Silangan and Payatas A, antinarcotics operatives of the Batasan police station reportedly figured in two shootouts with drug suspects.

Edmundo Gomez, 52, and Ronald Borlaza, 37, were killed on Gen. de Dios Street Extension at 10:35 a.m. Sunday, after they sold P1,500 worth of shabu to undercover policemen. They were declared dead on arrival at East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC). Seized from them were seven sachets of shabu and two handguns.

Around seven hours later, operatives from the same team shot it out on Springfield Street, Payatas, with two men known only as Ardi and Asyong. The two men reportedly sensed that they were dealing with policemen, leading to a firefight. They were also declared dead at EAMC.

Police recovered five sachets of shabu, two handguns and drug paraphernalia.

At 6:45 p.m. Sunday in Novaliches, members of the QCPD Station 4 conducted an entrapment operation with two men identified only as Tupe and Ariel, both known drug users in the area.

During the transaction, however, two other suspects known only as Apple and Daku noticed the policemen in the area and drew their guns. Both men were killed while Ariel and Tupe fled.

Twenty sachets of shabu were recovered from the slain suspects along with two guns.

At Sunday midnight, a barangay watchman and his two cohorts were killed in a gunbattle with policemen in Bago Bantay.

The fatalities were identified as Alvin delos Santos, 44, a barangay public safety officer; Glen Pangan, 37 and Ding Hernando Manuguit, 45. The three were on the drug watch list of Barangay Santo Cristo. Recovered from the three were 20 sachets of shabu, two improvised handguns and a revolver.

Ten minutes later in Barangay Santa Lucia, Fairview policemen killed a known drug pusher known only as Ferdie in an entrapment operation on Diego Silang Street. Five sachers of shabu and a revolver were found in his possession.