Drug dealer eyed in former inmate's murder

MANILA, Philippines - Police are eyeing a convicted drug dealer as a suspect in the killing of a former New Bilibid Prison inmate.

“(The) victim (Ruel Achura) allegedly got the ire of the suspect after he refused to close an illegal drugs transaction,” said Chief Inspector Giovanni Martinez, head of the local police’s intelligence unit.

Martinez said the suspect was sentenced to life imprisonment and detained at the Leyte Penal Colony.

Achura, 51, was shot in the head at around 7 a.m. in front of a parlor at South Gold Market Katihan in Poblacion last March 3. His two killers fled on a motorcycle.

Martinez said Archua, who was an alleged member of the Kuratong Baleleng syndicate was detained in 1994 and granted parole in 2009.