Police: Drug syndicate behind Tabanao's death

CEBU, Philippines - A syndicate of drug lords is reportedly behind the killing of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 and former radio broadcaster Jessie Tabanao, a police official said.

Supt. Carmelo Dayon, assistant head of the Special Investigation Task Force Tabanao who was created to handle the case, said Tabanao's death was masterminded by drug lords who are not from Cebu.

"Maglisod ta og tumbok ani kay dili lang usa ka-personality ang involved kundi syndicate of druglords (It will be hard to identify these people since it involves not just one personality but a syndicate of drug lords)," Dayon disclosed in a press conference yesterday.

He further revealed that the gunman was a professional hired killer who is also not from Cebu.

With this recent development in the case, Dayon said they are eyeing the angle of Tabanao's death as job-related.

"The strong motive is job-related, sa iyang pagka-PDEA agent. Dili ni personal grudge lang. Lawom ni siya," Dayon stressed.

The task force officer said someone contacted Tabanao through his cellular phone a few minutes before he was gunned down in Escario St., late Saturday night. He was reportedly scheduled to meet someone that night.

"Naa'y text na 'gikan ko didto sa imong opisina nya wala man ka. Kuhaa na ni' (There was a text message stating 'I went to your office but you were not there. Get this now')" Dayon said, referring to a text message found in the inbox of one of Tabanao's mobile phones.

The message could have been a trap, said Dayon, as Tabanao was dealing with a supposed confidential informant on an anti-drug operation that he was working on that night.

"Dakong posibilidad na kadtong iyang gikasabot, mao ra pu'y ningbira niya. Imbes na muhatag og info, kadtong panghitaboa ang nahitabo, nabitik siya. Dili siya prepared sa panghitabo (there is a huge possibility that the one he was supposed to meet was also the one who shot him. Instead of giving information, that happened, he was killed. He was not preprared)," said Dayon.

Also, Dayon said the rest of the messages in Tabanao's phone were turned over to the Anti-Cybercrime Group for decoding. He added that the sender of the text messages to Tabanao used different numbers.

The task force also learned that Tabanao, who was recently reassigned in PDEA-Caraga Region, submitted a letter to their national office, appealing for him to be retained at PDEA-7 since he was still "working on a project" here in Cebu, apart from anchoring a program over radio DyRC.

Further, Dayon said they are strengthening their circumstantial evidences and gathering testimonies from witnesses apart from Tabanao's families and colleagues in PDEA-7 to hopefully shed more light on the case.

The task force is composed of the Investigation and Detective Management Branch, City Intelligence Branch, Homicide Section, and Fuente Police Station, which have different roles in investigating the case.

Tabanao, who was supposed to fetch his pregnant wife, Katrina, was killed last September 14 by a lone gunman who shot him multiple times. –(FREEMAN)