AN ALLEGED big-time drug suspect was killed, a policeman was wounded and some P27.2 million illegal drugs were seized in an anti-drug operation in Zamboanga City, a top police official announced Saturday, February 26, 2022.
Police Colonel Alexander Lorenzo, Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) director, said the suspect was killed as a shootout ensued during the anti-drug operation around 10 p.m. Friday, February 25, at Caragasan Beach in Maasin village, east of Zamboanga City.
Lorenzo identified the slain suspect as Puruti Taraji alias Bossing listed as a high-value individual (HVI) and a resident of Laum Maimbung village, Maimbung, Sulu.
The identity of the wounded policeman was withheld. He was an undercover operative who acted as poseur buyer during the anti-drug operation.
Lorenzo said the shootout ensued after Taraji shot the undercover policeman prompting the other members of the operating team to return fire that resulted in the death of the suspect.
He said the suspect’s two cohorts aboard a motorboat also opened fire and fled after missing their targets.
He said the operating team composed of policemen and marine forces recovered from the suspect some four kilograms of suspected shabu worth P27.2 million, a 9-millimeter pistol, a bundle of boodle money topped with one genuine P1,000 as supposed payment of P4 million, and several non-drug items.
The anti-drug operation was launched after four months of surveillance on the illegal drug trade of the suspect, Lorenzo disclosed. (SunStar Zamboanga)