SoCot ex-village chief slain in drug bust
Local News • 06:15 AM Thu Oct 22, 2020
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By:
Richelyn Gubalani/PNA
GENERAL SANTOS CITY – A former barangay chairperson in the South Cotabato town of Polomolok was killed in an anti-drug operation on Tuesday afternoon, an official said.
Lt. Col. Alex Joe Orcajada, chief of Polomolok municipal police station, said Wednesday that suspect Diosdado Empleo Cruz, former chairman of Barangay Rubber, was killed after resisting arrest during an entrapment operation in Barangay Magsaysay past 5 p.m.
An undercover police officer was able to transact and purchase a sachet of suspected shabu worth PHP500 from the suspect, Orcajada said, adding that Cruz tried to escape and drew a handgun after noticing the presence of the other operatives.
Orcajada said it led to a brief firefight that resulted in the fatal wounding of Cruz, who was declared dead upon arrival at the Polomolok Municipal Hospital at around 7:32 p.m.
Recovered from the slain suspect were six more sachets of suspected shabu worth PHP6,860, PHP500 marked bill, and a .38 caliber revolver with two live bullets, the police official said, adding authorities had long been monitoring the activities of the former village chair, who was included in their drug watchlist.
“Based on intelligence reports, he was connected and supported the activities of the Dawlah Islamiya-Socsargen Khatiba,” he said.
Formerly known as the Nilong Group, the gang was tagged behind the series of killings, robbery, motorcycle theft, drug trafficking, and other criminal activities in Polomolok and neighboring areas.
It was also linked to the bomb attack in front of a lying-in clinic here in September 2018 that left eight people wounded.
Orcajada said Cruz was arrested in March last year after yielding an unlicensed firearm in a raid at his home in Barangay Rubber but was freed several days later after posting bail. (PNA)