9 dead, 4 arrested in drug war

At least nine suspected drug pushers and users were killed and four arrested in Metro Manila over the past two days as the government continues to wage war against illegal drugs.

In Quezon City, five suspects were shot dead and two others were arrested in separate busts on Friday.

Julius Faustino, alias Ato and Pilay, 27; Elmer Gines, alias Boyong; Anthony Peciliano, alias Nene, 36; Roberto Zaragosa Jr., 32, and Edgar Enmil, 35, were killed during two stings staged in Barangays San Agustin and Bagbag.

Police officers were reportedly able to buy shabu from Faustino at a house on Paraiso street at around 4 p.m.

Faustino and Gines were shot dead after they allegedly fired at police officers when they sensed it was a setup.

Their cohorts – identified as Gines’ cousin Janno Tomas, 22, and Faustino’s brother Rodolfo – were caught with a weighing scale and two sachets said to contain shabu in the house where the shootout occurred.

Superintendent April Luis Young, Novaliches police station commander, said the house was used as a meeting place for drug deals.

Recovered at the crime scene were a .38 caliber revolver, a 9mm pistol, P200 marked money and five sachets said to contain shabu.

Meanwhile, Peliciano, Zaragoza and Enmil were shot after they allegedly fired at police officers in another drug bust along Like street in Goodwill Subdivision at around 9:20 p.m.

Police officers recovered 10 sachets said to contain shabu, two .45 caliber pistols, a .38 caliber revolver and fired bullet shells at the crime scene.

Hitman slain

A man who reportedly worked as a gun-for-hire and his companion were killed in a shootout with police officers in Valenzuela City before dawn yesterday.

According to initial police reports, members of the Northern Police District anti-illegal drug unit and the Valenzuela police community precinct 8 spotted a blue Mitsubishi Galant (UAE168) traveling along North Luzon Expressway and approaching Mindanao Avenue at past 2 a.m.

Jomar Serrano, alias Jomar Reyes Telebrico, 26, and a man identified only as Buknoy were in the car. They were wanted on murder and gun charges, police said.

When police officers later tracked the car to a dark area along Mindanao Avenue Extension in Barangay Ugong and blocked its path, the two men reportedly shot at them, triggering a shootout.

Police officers recovered a .45 caliber pistol, a .38 caliber revolver and a hand grenade from the suspects. Two sachets of shabu were found in the suspects’ pockets and two small plastic bags said to contain shabu were found in the car’s compartment.

In Caloocan City, motorcycleriding assailants barged into the home of Josefina Buenaventura, alias Mamita, in Bagbaguin and shot her dead at around 2 a.m.

Rico Ticlim, executive officer of Barangay 165, told police Buenaventura allegedly did not stop being involved in the illegal drug trade.

In Mandaluyong City, Joselito Daria was shot dead along Lions Road in Barangay Ilaya by unidentified assailants at around 7:30 a.m. yesterday.

Investigators said Daria’s name is in the police drug watchlist.

In Marikina City, drug suspect Ronald Lim was hospitalized after he was shot in a drug bust in Goodrich Village, Concepcion Uno yesterday.

He was taken to the Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center, police said.

Retired cop falls

Meanwhile, retired Senior Police Officer 2 Ricardo Ruiz, 65, was apprehended after he and his partner, Mary Rosa Bacalla Ludovice, reportedly sold P500 worth of shabu to undercover lawmen at their house on Maunawain street in Barangay Pinyahan at around 7 p.m.

The two are on the Kamuning police station’s drug watchlist.

Five sachets of shabu and marked money were recovered from the suspects.

Ruiz is also the subject of an arrest warrant for attempted homicide, issued by a Quezon City court in May last year.