Retired cop in Duterte drug list slain in sting

MANILA, Philippines — A former policeman included in President Duterte’s narco list was killed in an alleged shootout during a sting spearheaded by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Valenzuela City yesterday.

Retired Police Officer 2 Exequiel Sangco, 50, allegedly pulled out a 9mm caliber pistol after he sold a sachet of shabu for P500 to a PDEA operative posing as a buyer, realizing he was the target of a sting operation.

Sangco was reported to be involved in the illegal drug trade when he was with the Valenzuela police until 2012 and with the Navotas police until 2015, when he was forced to retire, Valenzuela police chief Senior Superintendent David Poklay said.

Sangco had been in the police force since 1991 and his one-rank promotion in over two decades spoke of the veracity of the allegations against him, Poklay added.

Sangco was also allegedly involved in gunrunning and extortion activities.

PDEA spokesman Derrick Arnold Carreon said the drug bust happened at Saint Jude Subdivision in Barangay Malinta at around 9:25 p.m.

PDEA operatives and local police brought Sangco to the Dalandanan Emergency Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

An undetermined quantity of shabu placed in 21 plastic sachets, P1,246.26 in cash that authorities believed were proceeds from Sangco’s illegal activities and a tricycle were recovered at the scene.

Sangco is the latest alleged police scalawag killed in operations in Metro Manila since the Philippine National Police vowed to intensify its anti-drug drive, pursuant to President Duterte’s directive to conduct a “chilling” war on drugs.

In the past two weeks, three Manila Police District police officers have been gunned down by masked assailants.

In other parts of Metro Manila, at least 17 persons were arrested for drugs over the past two days.

In Manila, a 17-year-old boy was apprehended along Kagandahan street in Barangay 152, Tondo for allegedly carrying 10 grams of shabu with a street value of P40,000 and a loaded .45 caliber pistol.

Eleven more persons were arrested for drugs in Quezon City, four in Marikina City and one in Pasig.