A suspected new player in the illegal drug trade was shot dead after he attempted to shoot the police in Lower Campo, Barangay Poblacion in Pinamungajan last Saturday.
The fatality was identified as Serilino “Serle” Montes, said Senior Insp. Alfredo Kuhay Jr., the town police chief. A loaded .38 revolver and seven packs of white crystals believed to be shabu worth more than P8,000 were recovered from the suspect.
Before the operatives found Montes brandishing his gun, they were in Lower Campo, conducting surveillance on a pusher who had been in the police station’s list of drug personalities.
Kuhay said the station received a call from a Lower Campo resident about the armed Montes at 11:10 a.m. Kuhay said his team approached Montes and asked him to surrender the revolver. The suspect suddenly aimed the gun and pulled the trigger, prompting the operatives to take cover and retaliate.
After he was hit in the body, Montes was brought to Pinamungajan District Hospital. He was still conscious when he was transferred to the Cebu Provincial Hospital in Carcar City, where he died at 2 p.m. Kuhay said Montes had not been listed as one of the pushers operating in Pinamungajan, which made him theorize that the suspect was still new in the illegal drug trade. The revolver will be subjected to an examination to determine if it had been used in shooting incidents. (KAL)