Head of big-time drug group in Tarlac slain

TARLAC CITY - The leader of an alleged family-run drug syndicate here was shot dead by still unidentified gunmen near his home last Tuesday night.

The killing of Antonio Tan, 65, has spawned speculations that he was a victim of a police rubout which Superintendent Tito Bayangos, city police chief, vehemently denied.

"If we had our way, we would have used the full force of the law just like what we did to his children and their cohorts whom we formally charged in court," Bayangos said.

He was referring to the earlier arrest of two of Tan's children, Edgar and Danilo, and five others.

Police probers theorized that Tan might have been killed by any of his associates in the criminal underworld whom he might have double-crossed.

Other investigators raised the possibility that hit men of the Tarlac-based Santiago-De Guzman Brigade of the New People's Army might have a hand in Tan's murder.

There were reports, they said, that the NPA has been attempting to infiltrate Sitio Suba in Barangay Matatalaib, where the Tans reside, but could not do so because of the presence of shabu dealers there.

Tan was shot at about 10 p.m. Tuesday a few meters from his house in Sitio Suba. His body bore multiple caliber .45 gunshot wounds.

Tan' s alleged family-run drug syndicate is said to be one of the biggest sources of illegal drugs in this city and in the neighboring provinces of Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija.

A Filipino-Chinese woman from Manila reportedly delivered shabu to Tan twice a week.

Tan's sons Edgar and Danilo, their cousin Mely Sulit, Danilo's wife Janet and three others (Orlando Manuel, Elias Bondoc and Agustin Ocampo) are now behind bars at the Tarlac Penal Colony.

They are facing charges for illegal drug dealing. Police raiders seized several grams of shabu, repacking equipment and sniffing paraphernalia from them.

Other alleged members of the family syndicate are Tan's four other children and four of their cousins. The group also has five other members, all believed to be relatives, police said.