A FORMER Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) operative allegedly involved in illegal drug trade was shot to death by two unidentified assailants in Barangay Sambog, Corella, Bohol last Sunday night.
Ex-SPO1 Rolex Tamarra, 35, succumbed to gunshot wounds in the chest and head.
Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, the Police Regional Office 7 director, said the officer was a known drug protector and drug pusher.
“Siguro itong mga drug personalities na pinoprotektahan niya ay hindi na niya maprotekta, binawian na siya. Yon ang lumalabas na information na nakuha. Binira siya (Maybe he could no longer protect the drug personalities. That’s the information we got. He was hit),” he said.
Tamarra, a native of Panglao, was shot outside a cockpit in Sambog at 7:40 p.m.
Transferred
The victim was transferred to Mandaue City Police Office from Bohol Provincial Police Office last May 1, but he went absent without filing an official leave.
“Identified drug protector ito at drug pusher na rin. Yan ang information na nakakarating sa atin. In fact, nung na-assign pa ng Bohol yan siya na yong, nag-haharbor ng mga drug pusher na naaresto dun. Nung nandoon na siya sa Mandaue, hindi pa rin siya tumigil (That’s the information that reached us. When he was assigned in Bohol, he helped pushers that were arrested there. When he was in Mandaue, he was still doing it),” said Taliño.
Two months later, he was dismissed from the service after he was dropped from the rolls of active police officers.
“Malakas magsabong,” said Taliño. “May pinatatayong malalaking bahay (He was into cockfighting. He built a big house).”
Investigators found 12 empty shells of .45 pistol, a .38 revolver and its bullets, cell phone, the police identification card of the victim, a wallet containing P300 in cash and a P2-illion cheque of Jinilda Malaay dated Aug. 15, 2009.
These pieces of evidence are now in the custody of the Scene of the Crime Operatives.
Aloguinsan
At 5 a.m. on the same day, a suspected drug pusher was shot by two unknown assailants in Barangay Bonbon, Aloguinsan.
Mario Nemenzo Dealagdon, 50, suffered four gunshot wounds in the head and different parts of his body.
The victim and his friend attended a disco organized by the barangay officials for their fiesta before the incident happened.
Afterwards, they went home on board a motorcycle with his friend serving as the driver. The culprits, who were waiting for them on a parked motorcycle, suddenly fired at them.
Dealagdon was hit, while his friend was not and managed to escape.
Two empty shells of .45 pistol, an improvised tooter and disposable lighter were found by the police in the crime scene.
Pasil
A suspected drug user was shot dead beside his house in Lawis Riverside, Barangay Pasil at 11:20 p.m. last Sunday.
Yesterday dawn, two men were shot inside a Ngohiong eatery in B. Rodriguez St., Barangay Capitol Site at 3:30 a.m. that killed one of them.
Neptali Sulotan, 49, was a subject for the Oplan Tokhang of the Police Station 5.
He was shot infront of his wife, Helen, by two unidentified men.
“Wala nailhan sa misis ang nagpusil pero kita siya sa duha ka tawo sa wala pa gipusil iyang bana (The wife didn’t recognize the attackers but she saw them before they shot her husband),” PO3 Nicolo Gonzales of the Homicide Section said.
It was also Helen who attested to the homicide investigators that her husband sniffed shabu.
The victim was walking home from his work as a carpenter when he was shot dead just a few steps from his house.
Recovered from the scene were two empty shells of caliber .45 and a deformed slug.
In Capitol Site, cousins Raul and Martin Delara were having a drinking session when they were shot.
According to Gonzales, the Delaras were shot because of a personal grudge, as alleged by a Swat personnel and one of their cousins who asked not to be named.
“Nibarog sila kay namili sila’g kanta sa may juke box, so posible nagtalikod sila anang time-ma, ni abot tong suspetsado mao tong gipusil silang duha (They were choosing songs at the jukebox, so it’s possible that when they turned their back at that time, the suspect arrived and shot them),” PO3 Nicolo Gonzalez said.
Gonzales said the cashier did not notice the suspect since she was facing her table and she only heard a gunshot.
Raul succumbed to two gunshot wounds on his chest and stomach, while Martin survived the attack and was rushed to the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC). He was hit on the stomach and right ankle.
Gonzalez said there were no longer people when they arrived at the crime scene.
“Mao jud nay problema nato karon kay mga patay nato puro unidentified (That’s our problem now because the suspects of the killings were unidentified),” Gonzalez added, referring to the unidentified gunmen.
Three empty shells of caliber 9mm, cellular phone, black wallet with 1x1 ID picture, P190, and Honda motorcycle were recovered on the crime scene.
Homicide investigators are still investigating if it was a drug-related incident. Julie Mae Altamira, USJ-R BA-Journalism Intern