GENERAL SANTOS CITY–Three suspected drug pushers were killed while several high-powered firearms were recovered in joint law enforcement operations here and nearby Sarangani Province over the weekend.
Supt. Aldrin Gonzales, Police Regional Office-12 public information officer, said Monday the suspects were killed in alleged firefights during search operations Saturday dawn in Barangay Poblacion, Alabel town in Sarangani.
Armed with search warrants, Gonzales said operatives led by personnel from the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit (RPDEU)-12 stormed three houses in the area for alleged possession of dangerous drugs and illegal firearms.
The operation, which mainly targeted alleged drug personalities Carlo Esto, Edwin Jumoad and Loklok Villafor, was backed by elements of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Region 12 and the Alabel municipal police station.
Based on their standard operating procedure, Gonzales said the operatives needed to first “rush up and control the area” before serving the search warrants,
But during the “rush-up assault,” he said the suspects resisted and fired at the approaching operatives.
“Our personnel were forced to fire back, fatally hitting the suspects in the process,” Gonzales said in a statement.
He said the three were immediately brought to the Dr. Jorge P. Royeca Hospital here but were declared dead upon arrival by attending doctors.
Recovered from Esto were 10 sachets of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu and an Ingram submachine gun; while Esto was found with eight sachets of suspected shabu and a caliber 48 pistol.
Recovered from Jumoad’s body, who was a former Army trooper, were six sachets of suspected shabu, an Ingram submachine gun and a caliber .22 handgun.
Senior Insp. Brent Ian Salazar, deputy chief of RPDEU-12, said the slain suspects were included in the area’s top drug personalities.
He said Esto and Jumoad were listed as high value-targets while Villaflor was considered a street-level pusher.
Meanwhile, police operatives recovered an Italian-made version of Uzi 9mm machine pistol with six live ammunition and a grenade in a raid Sunday dawn in Purok Mudia in Barangay Labangal here.
The illegal items were seized during a search operation at the house of suspect John Mark Mudia.
The suspect would be charged with violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act and illegal possession of explosive. (Alejandro Saludo/PNA)
