MARAWI CITY – Police killed a suspected drug dealer in firefight and arrested 9 people, including the son of a town mayor in separate sting operations in North Cotabato and Lanao del Sur provinces, officials said.
Police said Nago Balindong was slain in the gun battle in the village of Jose Abad Santos in Malabang town in Lanao del Sur. It said 7 other drug suspects were captured following the clash.
Balindong was fatally shot in the fighting which broke out after he attacked policemen who were trying to arrest him. No policemen were injured or killed in the fighting. Police said it recovered Balindong’s .45-caliber pistol, two fragmentation grenades, 1o cell phones, some P3,000 in cash and three packets of crystal meth.
Policemen and anti-narcotics agents also arrested Jid Roquero in North Cotabato’s Pigcawayan town where his father, Herminio, is the mayor. The young Roquero was arrested in a house in the village of North Manuangan where authorities allegedly recovered suspected crystal meth and guns, including ammunition, according to Chief Inspector Realan Mamon, the town’s police commander.
In an interview by the radio station dxND, Mamon said the 48-year old Roquero is still being investigated. There was no immediate statement from Roquero or his family about the allegations and charges made by the police against him. (Rhoderick Beñez)
20
