Drug pusher slain, 2 more arrested in Zambo buy-bust

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - A shabu pusher was killed while his two cohorts were captured in a shootout following a buy-bust operation on Wednesday by local police in a pension house near the downtown area.

A member of the local police's Anti-illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) was also wounded in the shootout that took place at around 11:30 p.m. in one of the rooms of the Pension Royale in Barangay Canelar.

Superintendent Diomarie Albarico, chief of the city police's Statkon 11, said the drug suspects fired at the policemen after sensing the entrapment operation.

Albarico identified the slain suspect as Joshua Atilano alias Bunso while the wounded cop was identified as Police Officer 2 Raymond Diaz. The two captured suspects were Joey Norberto Dellosa alias Boom-boom, 48, and Eric Tubaña Espinosa.

The operatives recovered from the suspects' room 8 plastic sachets containing shabu, a caliber .45 pistol and several drug paraphernalia.

Two more plastic sachets also containing shabu were recovered from the possession of the suspects.