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Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Cop chief links drugs to slay of soldiers
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Illegal drugs might have been behind the killing of two soldiers Sunday afternoon, as they were involved in anti-drug work for a government agency, a police official said Tuesday.
City Police Director Aurelio Trampe said they were focusing their investigation on this angle.
Earlier reports said Trampe and other city police officials would be invited to the City Council session next Monday in relation to the killings.
Trampe said professional killers were involved in the ambush-slay of Army Captain Paulman Sadat Hoffer Tamano and Private Nabral Barra.
Tamano, according to the police official, was working in a government anti-drug agency. He was a member of the Military Intelligence Battalion of the Fourth Infantry Division based in Davao.
"The suspects may have been hired from the Lanao provinces," Trampe added. It was believed that Tamano had a run-in with a drug syndicate group.
The Northern Mindanao police, in tandem with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, created a task force to solve the soldiers' killings.
Trampe said he was prepared to appear before the City Council in its next session to shed light on the incident.
He said checkpoints were set up in all entry and exit points in Cagayan de Oro but they have so far failed to catch the gunmen. He believes though that the gunmen are still in the city.
"They are hiding in Cagayan de Oro or in a Muslim community in the city," Trampe said.
The Muslim communities in Cagayan de Oro earlier vowed to help City Hall ferret out criminal elements within their ranks.
Trampe admitted their shortcomings in the latest incident, saying their authority is limited even when conducting searches at checkpoints.
Earlier, Fourth ID civil relations officer Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Simbajon confirmed in a television interview that a manhunt had been launched for the perpetrators.
"We ordered our troops to pursue the suspects wherever they may be...though we have yet to determine the motive behind the killings," Simbajon said. (Sun.Star SuperBalita/With Stephen Capillas)
(December 14, 2005 issue)
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