Carcar ‘drug lord,’ partner killed in ambush
A suspected drug lord and his live-in partner were killed in an ambush in Carcar City, 42 kilometers south of Cebu City, on Friday.
Merlito “Etot” Saducas was driving his motorcycle with his partner Angeline Cabicas as his backrider along a road in Sitio Bangko, Barangay Valencia, when they were fired upon by one of two men riding in tandem at around 1 p.m.
Supt. Jose Liddawa, chief of Carcar City Police Station, said Saducas, 54, and Cabicas, 30, suffered gunshot wounds on different parts of their bodies.
They were brought to the Carcar City District Hospital but were declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.
Liddawa said Saducas was a known drug personality in the city and was considered a “drug lord” since the latter allegedly controlled a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drug trade.
Saducas, he said, allegedly delivered illegal drugs to neighboring towns in southern Cebu, making him the number one drug personality in Carcar City.
Based on their investigation, Liddawa said Saducas was connected to self-confessed drug lord Franz Sabalones, a native of San Fernando town, Cebu, who surrendered to Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa in August last year.
Sabalones, however, was released from custody since no charges have been filed against him yet.
But most of the bank and real estate assets of Sabalones had been ordered frozen by the court due to allegations that these were proceeds of his illegal drugs trade and amid an ongoing probe against him by the Department of Justice.
Liddawa said police investigators were looking into three possible motives behind the killing of Saducas.
“We are looking into the possibility that the victim did not remit his collection of drug sales,” Liddawa said in an interview.
“But it could also be robbery because a cash worth P30,000 and the victims’ jewelry were reportedly lost, or it could also be revenge.”
Supt. Joie Yape, chief of the Provincial Intelligence Branch of the Cebu Provincial Police Office, said Saducas was also in their drugs list.
In a separate drug-related incident, a 10-year-old boy was wounded by a stray bullet when two suspected drug pushers engaged in a shootout in Barangay Alaska Mambaling, Cebu City, past 2 p.m. on Thursday.
The boy was reportedly standing outside his residence when he was hit by a stray bullet on his shoulder and neck, said PO3 Winston Ybañez, investigator of the homicide section of the Cebu City Police Office.
The boy was rushed to the nearest hospital where he was declared out of danger by the doctors.
Alen Lumanog, one of the drug suspects who engaged another drug suspect in a shootout, was also confined in the hospital after he was hit during the shootout.
The other drug suspect, who remained at large, was identified as Wilmar Navarro.
Ybañez said personal grudge could have been the motive behind the shootout.
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