Soldier turned drug dealer killed after resisting arrest

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Policemen shot and killed an enlisted Army soldier, who was a long-time shabu peddler, for resisting arrest on Tuesday while in a hotel in Midsayap town in the province.

Supt. Reinante Delos Santos, chief of the Midsayap municipal police, said local police and members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group were to peacefully arrest Tumindig Guiapal, who was inside a hotel near the town proper, but were forced to neutralize him when he pulled out a .45 caliber pistol.

“He was a member of the Philippine Army, based on the identification card that was recovered from him,” Delos Santos said.

Delos Santos said Guiapal belonged to an Army unit based in a province outside of Central Mindanao.

Delos Santos said the Midsayap police and the CIDG learned of the drug-trafficking activities of  Guiapal from informants, among them barangay officials.

The raiding team recovered some 70 grams of shabu from the hotel room occupied by Guiapal.

Guiapal's companion, Teng Kabalu, voluntarily turned himself in when he sensed that policemen had surrounded the hotel, ready to pounce on him if he would resist arrest.

“He was taken by the CIDG operatives for interrogation,” Delos Santos said.

He said Kabalu is wanted in Gen. Santos City for drug trafficking.

“He has a pending case there. He ran away while on bail,” Delos Santos said.