Alleged member of drug group killed in ‘armed encounter’ with police in Cebu City

P20.4 million worth of illegal drugs recovered in operation

Members of the SOCO examine the area where an alleged member of a drug group was killed in an encounter with police inside the Chinese Cemetery in Barangay Carreta, Cebu City on Friday dawn, June 17, 2022. | Photo from PDEG-SOU

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Two alleged members of a drug group operating in Central Visayas engaged in an ‘armed encounter’ with the police, with one ending up getting killed and the other escaping on Friday dawn, June 17, 2022.

The encounter happened during  a buy-bust operation conducted inside the Chinese Cemetery in Barangay Carreta, here.

Authorities identified the slain suspect as Mark Ronald Matig-a. His cohort, a particular Ejay, who was later identified as June Tuñacao, managed to escape after the incident.  The two were residents of Barangay Carreta.

The operation led to a brief fire fight that resulted to the death of Matig-a. A poseur buyer was also hit on his chest but the bullet did not penetrate because of the bulletproof vest he was wearing at that time.

Authorities tried to run after Tuñacao but they failed to catch him, said police Lieutenant Colonel Lymel Pasquin, head of the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Special Operations Unit (PDEG-SOU).

As of this posting, police are going after Tuñacao, whom Pasquin identified as a possible ‘hitman’ of a drug lord.

Authorities were able to recover a unit of Kg9 rifle from the slain suspect. They also confiscated three kilos of suspected shabu worth P20.4 million. The operation stemmed after the two suspect’s names surfaced from previous drug operations.

| photo from PDEG-7

According to Pasquin, Matig-a was a trusted cohort of Tuñacao in his alleged illegal drug activities. The two reportedly is able to dispose of 500 grams of ‘shabu’ in a week or less. They operated in areas in Metro Cebu.

During their case build-up, Pasquin said that they separately monitored the two. They have been monitoring the at-large Tuñacao for about two weeks and Matig-a for four days. They were together when the transaction was made.

Police said Matig-a was their way to deal with Tuñacao.

Police also said that there are reports that Tuñacao was involved in previous shooting incidents. Pasquin, however, could not verify this as they have no sufficient evidence to prove this for now.

/bmjo

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