Cop nabbed, ex-cop slain in drug stings

A police officer was arrested and a former lawman was killed in separate drug stings in Quezon City and Manila since Thursday night, officials reported yesterday.

Police Officer 3 Redentor Espinosa, who has been absent without leave from the Police Security Protection Group in Camp Crame, was arrested in a bust in Tondo, Manila Thursday night.

His companion, Melchor de la Cruz, 35, allegedly Manila’s number one pusher, reportedly shot at police officers and died during the ensuing firefight.

A third man, Bembol Sanorjo, was also arrested in the operation. His name is on the Manila Police District’s drug watchlist.

Police officers recovered 10 sachets of shabu, a .38 caliber revolver and P5,000 from De la Cruz.

In Quezon City, former Police Officer 3 Pelito Obligacion was shot dead Thursday night after he allegedly shot at anti-drug operatives of the Talipapa police station.

Obligacion and a companion were beside a motorcycle at a dimly lit portion of Dingle street in Barangay Pasong Tamo when the operatives spotted them, said Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Senior Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar.

Obligacion was dropped from the rolls last March after he was absent without leave. He was allegedly involved in gunrunning and linked to the murder of two Caloocan policemen in 2013, said Superintendent Victor Pagulayan, Talipapa station commander.

The QCPD is still trying to determine whether the 2013 case was drug-related.

In Las Piñas City, police officers arrested five men caught in a pot session in Barangay Manuyo Thursday afternoon.

Sachets of shabu and drug paraphernalia were seized from Gerardo Bautista, Armando Garcia, Reynaldo Bautista, Winifredo Alvare and Joel Rodriguez, said Senior Superintendent Jemar Modequillo, city police chief.

Surrenderee shot dead

Drug pusher Jose Bumatay Jr., who surrendered to authorities last month, was shot dead in an alleged shootout with police officers in Marikina City Thursday night.

An undercover police officer arranged to buy a sachet of shabu for P300 at Bumatay’s house in Barangay Tañong before 11 p.m., said Senior Superintendent Romulo Sapitula, Eastern Police District director.

Bumatay shot at the police officers when he sensed it was a sting, Sapitula said, adding a .38 caliber revolver and a sachet of shabu were recovered from the pusher.

3 bodies found

Three bodies were found in various parts of Metro Manila yesterday.

The body of a man was found at past 1 a.m. along Luis street in Barangay San Miguel, Pasig City. The body was the fifth found in eastern Metro Manila in the past two days.

Four bodies, including that of a woman, were found in San Juan, Mandaluyong and Pasig on Wednesday and Thursday. Cardboard signs identifying the victims as pushers were found near the bodies.

Like the previous victims, the man’s head and arms were wrapped with packing tape and a sign identifying him as a drug pusher and robber was found hanging around his neck.

Sapitula ordered a deeper probe of the killings following speculations that the victims were slain by vigilantes.

In Caloocan City, the body of Marvin Mata, 46, was found along Pitong Bahay street in Barangay 179 before dawn yesterday. Police said a sachet of shabu was found on his person.

The body of Rommel Labios was found at a vacant lot at the Pedro Espiritu Compound in Barangay Ligid Tipas, Taguig City at around 4:30 a.m. yesterday.

Labios was stabbed twice and a placard identifying him as a rapist, car thief and pusher was left at the scene, police said.