A DRUG group leader, who is on top of the government’s watch list, was killed in an anti-drug operation in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay, the police reported.

Police Colonel Albert Larubis, Zamboanga Sibugay police director, said identified the slain drug group leader as Roderick Alvarez, a native of Zamboanga City.

Larubis said that Alvarez was killed in a buy-bust operation launched by the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU)-Zamboanga Peninsula around 9:51 a.m. Wednesday, August 10, in Purok Dungon, Magsaysay village, R.T. Lim, Zamboanga Sibugay.

He said that Alvarez grabbed a bolo and hacked a team member of the RDEU-Zamboanga Peninsula that prompted another arresting team member to shoot the drug suspect.

Larubis said Alvarez, who was hit in the chest, was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead by the attending physician.

Alvarez was the leader of the Nonoy Alvarez Drug Group operating in RT Lim and nearby towns in Zamboanga Sibugay, according to Larubis.

He said that recovered from the possession of the slain suspect was 10 grams of suspected shabu packed in two heat-sealed plastic sachets worth P68,000 and a bolo.

Alvarez said the slain suspect is on top of the watch list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and was previously arrested on illegal drug and rape charges. (SunStar Zamboanga)