Another drug suspect killed in police operation

Another drug suspect was felled by police bullets during a buy bust operation in Barangay Dumlog, Toledo City on Friday afternoon.

The suspect, identified as Ronnie Cabarles, 30, and a resident of the same village, never made it to the Toledo City district hospital. He was killed when he tried to draw his gun against undercover policemen led by PO1 Rodelito Tadique, said P03 Carlos Barluado of the Toledo City Police Office (TCPO).

Cabarles was now among the over a hundred drug suspects who were killed either in police anti-drug operations or by unknown assailants in Cebu City and province. His killing followed the death of another drug suspect in Mandaue City on Friday last week.

According to Barluado, an undercover policeman was buying a small pocket of shabu (methampethamine hydrochloride) using a P200 mark bill when Cabarles sensed that he was transacting with a cop and immediately pulled out and fired his gun at the policeman. Fortunately the gun jammed and he was shot instead by other policemen involved in the operation, said Barluado.

Barluado said Cabales was in the TCPO watch list of drug personalities in the city but he never surrendered under Operation Tokhang (Toktok Hangyo), a police strategy that literally means to knock on the doors of drug users and pushers and appeal for an end to their illegal activities and who, with the support of the barangay leaders, are herded in mass and asked to sign a prepared form where they promised to stop trading or using drugs.

Barluado said the police operatives recovered from the crime scene a small sachet containing illegal drug believed to be shabu that was the subject of the buy bust, another 10 small sachets of suspected shabu, and assorted drug paraphernalia inside the black wallet of the suspect. Also recovered was a .38 caliber revolver with 3 live bullets.

The drugs seized from Cabarles weighed a total of 5.33 grams, estimated to be around P35,000, said Barluado.