Ex-con shot dead

CEBU, Philippines —  A man previously convicted for a drug offense was killed after allegedly shooting it out with policemen last Friday night in Sitio Lagtang, Barangay Ocaña, Carcar City.

The fatality was identified as Kimwel Sonsona Albo, of legal age, and a resident of Sitio Kamang-kamang of the same barangay

Carcar Police Station chief Police Lieutenant Colonel Clarissa Gabutan said they received a call from an informant that three armed men were seen in the area.

The police responded to the call and found Albo and two men fitting the description of the armed men reported.

According to the police it was Albo who fired first after seeing them. Policemen returned fire and Albo was hit in the torso as his companions, still unidentified until now, were able to escape.

Albo was rushed to and admitted in the hospital, but died a few hours later.

Allegedly recovered from him were a .357 cal. revolver, three medium and seven small packs of suspected shabu, and P401 in cash. The drugs, weighing in at

15.21 grams, was estimated at P103,428.

Gabutan said Albo was a high-value target who was the subject of an operation in Carcar City and actually arrested in 2016. He was allegedly convicted but was able to avail of a plea bargain agreement and was released from prison just last March.

Gabutan said they lost track of Albo after he was released.

“Siguro maka-ingon g’yud ta nga nibalik g’yud ni siya sa pagpamaligya og shabu kay nakuhaan man nato siya og drugs sa iyang bulsa,” Gabutan said.

Meanwhile, about P4.45 million worth of shabu was seized from a high-value target and his companion after they were arrested during a buy-bust operation yesterday dawn in Barangay Buhisan, Cebu City.

The suspects were identified as Bernadine Regner, 53, the high-value target, and his accomplice Ricky Gerodiaz, 51, both residents of Kwako Compound, Sitio Nazareth, Barangay Buhisan.

Policemen confiscated nine sachets of suspected shabu weighing 665 grams and at P4.45 million from the suspects.

The operation was led by San Nicolas Police Station chief Police Major Kenneth Paul Albotra together with personnel of the Labangon Police Station and in coordination with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency -7. — Noreen Rose C. Vilchez and Jenny Luz R. Tejas, CNU interns/BRP (FREEMAN)