KIDAPAWAN CITY – Two suspected drug personalities were killed in a shootout with authorities while another one managed to escape a law enforcement operation in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat Monday evening, police said.
Supt. Aldrin Gonzales, Police Regional Office 12 (PRO-12) spokesperson, said that a report by the Columbio police to PRO-12 Director Chief Supt. Eliseo Rasco identified the slain suspects as Nonoy Sangkala, 25; and Leslie Barrientos Lampig, 45, both of Barangay Tambak, Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat.
Another suspect, identified as Boy Makalanga, 45, of Columbio, Sultan Kudarat, managed to elude arrest. Gonzales said joint operatives of the Regional Prohibited Drug Enforcement Unit (RPDEU-12) and the Columbio municipal police office conducted the buy-bust operation at 9:45 p.m.
The suspects later sensed they were dealing with a poseur-buyer and fled but firing their guns toward law enforcement officers, triggering a brief gun battle.
Two of the three suspects were initially injured and rushed by the police to a hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival.
Seized from the slain suspects were a huge sachet of shabu, PHP1,000 drug buy-bust money, an Ingram submachine pistol and a .38 caliber revolver.
Gonzales said all three suspects were included on the RPDEU-12 drug watch list. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
