Kerwin Espinosa’s brod-in-law slain

MANILA, Philippines - The brother-in-law of alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa was killed in a police operation in Davao City yesterday.

Jake Bolanio de la Cruz, alias Daot, fired at police operatives who tried to arrest him at his rented apartment in Purok 15, Barangay Bato Upper Pieded in Toril, said Chief Inspector Ronald Lao, district police station commander.

The warrants of arrest were issued by various courts in Leyte for murder, among other cases.

De la Cruz, an alleged drug dealer in Toril, was said to be a “high-value” target of the Eastern Visayas police.

A native of Barangay Beholho in Albuera, Leyte, De la Cruz reportedly transferred to Davao City immediately after President Duterte won the elections last year.

7 drug suspects shot dead

Meanwhile, a suspected drug lord in Cagayan was among seven other alleged drug pushers slain in separate incidents in Luzon in the past two days.

Wilferio Uclos, 60, was in a sport utility vehicle when motorcycle-riding men opened fire in Barangay Ugac, Tuguegarao on Tuesday.

Uclos died while being treated in a hospital, where his aide Jensen Alcantara, 19, who was wounded, was also brought for treatment.

Uclos’ brothers Edmundo and Arnulfo, chairman of Barangay Centro East, are being hunted by the police after sachets of shabu with an estimated street value of P200,000 were recovered during a raid on their house last May.

The Uclos brothers surrendered under Oplan Tokhang last year, police said.

Two men who have yet to be identified tried to escape and shot it out with policemen who conducted a follow-up operation after receiving reports that two motorcycles were stolen in Barangay Paraiso, Tarlac City, said Superintendent Luis Ventura, Tarlac police intelligence unit chief.

Ventura said three sachets of shabu were found in the pocket of one of the fatalities.

Cezar Bernabe, 47, reportedly fired at policemen during a sting in Barangay Parang, Concepcion also in Tarlac.

In Bulacan, an unidentified man shot Marvin Cris in Barangay Gaya-Gaya, San Jose del Monte City on Tuesday.

An alias Nonoy, a suspected member of the Manansala drug ring operating in Sta. Maria town, resisted arrest after selling shabu to a policeman who posed as a buyer in Barangay Pulong Buhangin also on Tuesday.

An alias Arnel reportedly shot it out with policemen who responded to a robbery incident in Barangay Prenza 2, Marilao. The fatalities were known drug suspects in their areas, police said.

P1.8-M shabu seized

In Rizal, police recovered around 280 grams of shabu with an estimated street value of P1.8 million from the compartment of a burned motorcycle in Antipolo yesterday.

A certain Rick Santos reportedly left the vehicle when it caught fire along Marcos road in Barangay Mayapot at about 2 p.m.

A manhunt for Santos is underway. – With Raymund Catindig, Ramon Efren Lazaro, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Ric Sapnu, Ding Cervantes, Emmanuel Tupas, Ed Amoroso