Escapee killed in Negros shootout

CEBU, Philippines —  A high-risk inmate who escaped from the Medellin jail last March 2019 was killed in a police operation in Negros Occidental yesterday morning after reportedly resisting arrest.

Fugitive Jinnefer Mercader, a former barangay captain of Lugo, Borbon, Cebu, reportedly engaged the members of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 in a shootout in Barangay Minoyan, Murcia, Negros Occidental in his attempt to resist arrest.

PRO-7 Chief Albert Ignatius Ferro said the operation was in coordination with the Negros Occidental Police Office and was conducted to arrest Mercader who was reported to have been hiding in the area since the time he escaped from the Medellin BJMP facility last year.

"Naay nahitabo nga armed confrontation, the police were defending themselves... the long hand of the law will surely get you if you are a criminal. So that's the only time that justice will be served if you will be able to arrest them," Ferro told reporters.

Ferro said the tracker team of PRO-7 has spotted Mercader's location during the continuous information gathering over the Most Wanted Person list.

During the operation, two loose firearms and P472,000 worth of illegal drugs were found in his rented home.

Mercader was arrested for possession of illegal drugs in 2017 and was jailed for the crime.  He, however, managed to escape in 2019.

In the previous interviews, Mercader had admitted that he was once a hitman which linked him to the killing of then Police Lieutenant Colonel Joie Yape who was shot dead along Molave Street, Cebu City last November 21, 2019.

Ferro said they will be tracing Mercader's possible cohorts who helped him escape and brought him in the area. He added that they are determining how he was able to leave Cebu without being noticed by the authorities. — GAN (FREEMAN)