7 shot dead, 31 arrested in Davao City drug raid

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – At least seven suspected drug pushers were killed and 31 others were arrested in an early morning raid in Barangay Ilang-Tibungco, a slum community here, yesterday.

The raid was carried out by joint elements of the city police and the regional offices of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) who were armed with 29 search warrants issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Pelagio Paguican.

Senior Superintendent Vicente Danao, city police chief, identified those slain as Dark Abdul Nawang, Roland Labante, Julani Ainal, Bob Jimlani, Langga Maugen, Faizal Albini, and Musa Sailama.

Those arrested were brought to the city police headquarters at Camp Leonor. Associated Press said a South Korean was among those nabbed.

Danao said the raid, part of their “Coplan Baling” jointly with PDEA and CIDG, yielded assorted firearms, components for homemade bombs, and 40 sachets of shabu.

Police said the raiding team was met by gunfire when they swooped down on 26 hideouts of suspected drug traffickers in the coastal village at around 5 a.m. yesterday.

The suspects’ houses, according to Danao, were installed with high-tech gadgets that could detect the arrival of law enforcers.

Emerson Rosales, PDEA-Region 11 director, said shanties in Barangay Ilang-Tibungco were being used as drug dens.

Rosales said authorities were still clearing the area as of press time.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte earlier had warned those engaged in illegal drugs to get out of the city, as authorities were bent on going after them.

Duterte also offered rewards for information on drug dealers and peddlers operating in the city.

He said prohibited drugs could have been brought into the city through smuggled items such as rice entering through the ports here. – With Reinir Padua, Cecille Suerte Felipe