Cop, drug suspect slain in shootout

MANILA, Philippines - A policeman and an alleged drug pusher were killed and another police officer was wounded when a sting turned into a shootout in the suspect’s house in San Miguel, Manila on Friday night.

Codeng Macabato, alias “Verdugo,” the target of the sting, was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Mary Chiles Hospital at around 10:21 p.m. due to multiple gunshot wounds.

Senior Police Officer 1 Randy Marlon Lebrilla, the leader of the team that staged the sting, was brought to the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center but died from gunshot wounds in the arms, legs and body at around 10:25 p.m.

Police Officer 1 Mark Pineda, who was shot in the chest and left arm, was transferred to the Chinese General Hospital after being admitted to Mary Chiles Hospital along with Macabato for treatment.

An informant tipped off the Manila Police District (MPD) Station 8’s drug enforcement unit about alleged drug deals in Macabato’s house in the Islamic Center compound.

Pineda was assigned to pose as a buyer. After he bought the drugs from Macabato and gave the signal for other police officers to move in, the suspect allegedly drew a gun and shot him.

Upon seeing Pineda hit, Lebrilla shot at Macabato, triggering the firefight.

Macabato and Lebrilla were seen lying on the floor after the shootout.

Crime scene investigators recovered from the crime scene 20 fired cartridge cases, four deformed bullets, sachets of shabu and assorted drug paraphernalia and a .45 caliber pistol.

Macabato was said to be the “first cousin of the late chairman Macabato of the Islamic Center,” according to the report by the MPD Station 8.

On Oct. 7 last year, Barangay 648 chairman Faiz Macabato, his brother Gaus and Malik Bayantol were killed after they allegedly resisted arrest and shot it out with police officers who raided the Islamic Center to serve arrest warrants on them.

Alleged hitman nabbed

Police officers arrested a reported communist hitman, his supplier and courier in separate anti-drug operations in Quezon City on Friday.

Jefferson Rafanan, 30, is allegedly a former member of the Partido Marxista-Leninista ng Pilipinas (PMLP), a breakaway faction of the Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) hit squad, according to Chief Superintendent Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, director of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).

Police officers seized 81.6 grams of shabu, with a street value of P408,000; P2,000 in cash; a .45 caliber pistol and a black Volvo sedan from Rafanan when they arrested him in a sting in front of the Fairview Hotel at around 4 p.m.

Eleazar said Rafanan became involved in the illegal drug trade when he was released from the Metro Manila District Jail (MMDJ) in Camp Bagong Diwa in January 2016 after the murder charges against him were dismissed.

He was accused of killing labor union legal adviser Rodolfo Paglinawan in 2006 and Danilo dela Paz, then executive vice president of Armscor Philippines, in 2004.

“He was also detained here for about three months,” Eleazar said in a press conference yesterday, adding that he has no information on why the cases against Rafanan were dismissed.

Rafanan’s alleged supplier Rommel Buenaventura, 40, and courier Nenchie Narvas, 38, were arrested in Barangay Kaligayahan at around 7 p.m. the same day. Police officers confiscated 84.8 grams of shabu, with a street value of P424,000; a .45 caliber pistol and a Toyota Altis from them.

They also seized from Buenaventura several money remittance receipts believed to have originated from his drug transactions in jail.

During interrogation, Rafanan told police their source is a Chinese detained at the MMDJ. Eleazar declined to identify the supplier’s name pending results of their investigation in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

“The Chinese national is the source, orchestrating delivery of drugs,” Eleazar said.

P14-M shabu foundin abandoned car

Meanwhile, police officers seized 3.5 kilos of shabu, with an estimated street value of P14 million, in a car abandoned at the open parking area of a mall in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig yesterday morning.

The Southern Police District’s anti-drug unit and PDEA agents monitored the car for 12 hours as part of an entrapment operation, SPD director Chief Superintendent Tomas Apolinario said.

He said they are coordinating with the Land Transportation Office to find out the registered owner of the Mitsubishi Lancer with plate number UAP-615.

In Pasig and Marikina, five suspected dealers were arrested on Friday.

Glenn Galenzoga, Helbert Devera, Jomar Ibañez, Kimberly Pagal and Cherry Ibañez were arrested in a sting in Barangay Pinagbuhatan in Pasig while police officers saw Daryl Fronda allegedly holding a sachet of shabu in Barangay Tumana, Marikina. – With Robertzon Ramirez, Emmanuel Tupas