‘Pusher’ slain in GSC bust

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- A target-listed drug personality from Maguindanao province was killed in a shootout with police operatives in a village here on Tuesday night, a police official said Wednesday.

Maj. Ruelito Lumiguid, chief of the city police drug

enforcement unit (CPDEU), identified the slain suspect as Omar Abdulrahim Abag, 21, who was found carrying around PHP581,000 worth of suspected shabu.

Lumiguid said the shootout broke out after the suspect resisted arrest following a buy-bust around 6 p.m. at a portion of the diversion road in Barangay Sinawal.

The operation was led by the CPDEU and backed by elements from the Police Regional Office-12’s intelligence branch, regional police drug enforcement unit, Makar police station, and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-12.

During the entrapment, Lumiguid said Abag sold a sachet of suspected shabu worth PHP500 to a police officer who posed as a buyer.

But he said the suspect, who appeared to have noticed the presence of other operatives, suddenly pulled out a handgun and tried to escape.

He said a brief firefight followed that resulted in the wounding of Abag, who expired while being brought to the Dr. Jorge P. Royeca Hospital.

Recovered from the suspect was the PHP500 marked bill, a .357-caliber revolver, and a bag that contained nine packs of suspected shabu with an estimated street value of PHP581,000.

Lumiguid said they have long been tracking down the movements of Abag, who hails from Midtimbang town in Maguindanao.

“We received a tip that he was again coming in and bringing drug supplies so we decided to entrap him,” he said in an interview.

Based on their intelligence monitoring, he said Abag was a courier and supplier of shabu in this city, South Cotabato province, and other parts of Region 12 (Soccsksargen).

On Monday, a suspected pusher was killed after resisting arrest during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Bula.

Around PHP80,000 worth of shabu was also recovered last weekend from a “big time” pusher during an entrapment in Barangay Katangawan.