2 slain in Tondo drug sting

MANILA, Philippines —  Two suspected drug pushers were killed in a supposed encounter with police during a sting in Tondo, Manila early yesterday morning.

 The fatalities were known only as Novo and Jury, said to be members of the jail gang Sputnik.

 Anti-narcotics officers of the Manila Police District Station 2 led by Senior Inspector Alfredo Tan hatched the sting at the Parola Compound at around 1:20 a.m. after receiving information that the suspects were allegedly pushing drugs.

Accompanied by an informant, Police Officer 2 Jaycee John Galutera posed as a buyer and managed to buy a sachet of shabu worth P300 from the suspects.

When the suspects sensed that they were dealing with police, they opened fire, hitting Galutera, who was wearing a bullet vest.

Police said the suspects were neutralized when Galutera’s colleagues returned fire.

The suspects were declared dead on arrival at the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center.

Authorities said they recovered 14 sachets of shabu and two .38-caliber handguns from the suspects.

The policemen involved in the shootout were ordered to report to surrender their firearms for forensic examination.

Party drugs, kush seized

In Malate, at least P220,000 worth of party drugs and kush, a high-grade variant of marijuana, were confiscated from four college students during a sting on Saturday.

Adrielle Mercado, 21; Maico Estrella, 22; Jan Andre Sanchez, 18, and Matthew Reyes, 21, were arrested at the corner of Taft Avenue and P. Ocampo street.

Prior to this, police said they were able to buy five Ecstasy tablets for P5,000 from the suspects.

Probers said the suspects were allegedy transacting drug deals with their clients, mostly students, through social media.

According to police, the kush seized from the suspects came from Los Angeles, California.

In another drug sting, four students were nabbed for alleged possession of two kilos of marijuana worth P240,000 along Claro M. Recto Avenue in Sampaloc.

They were Richmond Rey Palustre, 20; Ryan Glenn Zarandin, 20; Miguel Cardeña, 19, and Xanni Antonio, 18.

Police pounced on the suspects after a lawman managed to buy P10,000 worth of marijuana from them.

The suspects said they needed the money to pay for their tuition.

In Quezon  City, two Saudi Arabian men were apprehended after they were allegedly caught sniffing marijuana.

Adamhassan Ibrahim, 26, and Osama Shalup Dasaeed, 25, were nabbed at a bar along Tomas Morato in Barangay South Triangle.

The bouncer of the bar sought police assistance, resulting in the suspects’ arrest.

Nineteen other drug suspects were collared in separate operations in the city.

A 14-year-old boy was nabbed for alleged possession of weed along Kabignayan street in Barangay Tatalon.

The minor was turned over to the city Social Services Development Department.

The other suspects were rounded up in Barangays Tatalon, Sto Nino, Batasan Hills, Payatas, Kaligayahan and Balon Bato.– Romina Cabrera