TWO of the three suspects who were killed during a buy-bust operation that ended in a chase and a shootout on June 10, 2021 at the Transcentral Highway,
Barangay Taptap, Cebu City were involved in previous shooting incidents and were reportedly members of a cult in the town of San Fernando, Cebu.
According to Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy city director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office, the Police Drug Enforcement Group, which led the operation, received information that the two suspects, Christopher Aparice, also known as Christopher Lim, and Boyet Rama were arrested by police in San Fernando town a few years ago as they were identified as members of a gun-for-hire group responsible for the shooting incidents in the town and its neighboring areas. Their companion, who also died in the shootout with operatives on June 10, was identified as Libhon Kerr Bargayo, the group’s leader.
Aparice and Rama were also reportedly members of a cult, Parilla added.
“Another information given to us mga membro diay ni sila sad og kulto nga duna silay mga gituohan nga agod-agod, kini si Aparice ug Boyet Rama,” Parilla said.
The members of the cult believe that bullets would not penetrate their bodies, police said.
An operative from PDEG 7 told Superbalita Cebu that despite being already wounded during the exchange of gunfire in last Thursday’s operation, both Aparice and Rama still continued to fire at the operatives.
Seized from the suspects was P68 million worth of illegal drugs believed to be shabu.
Relatives of Aparice already claimed his body while the bodies of Bargayo and Rama remain at the funeral parlor.
Parilla said all firearms seized from the suspects, including an M16 Armalite rifle, will undergo ballistic examination at the PNP Crime Laboratory to determine if these had been used in other crimes. (AYB)