A POLICE officer assigned with the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) District Anti-Illegal Drugs (DAID) was killed by fellow policemen during a buy-bust operation at dawn Tuesday in Quezon City, a police official said.
Senior Supt. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, acting director of the QCPD, identified the slain police officer as Senior Insp. Ramon Castillo.
Castillo is suspected of having recycled seized illegal drugs and selling them on the street.
He was about to sell P1 million worth of shabu in front of a food chain in Fairview, Quezon City at 3:30 a.m. when he sensed that he has been set up.
Sensing that he was about to be arrested, Castillo sped off on board his car and exchanged fire with police.
Police blocked Castillo’s car at the corner of Regalado Avenue and Bulova St. in Greater Fairview where a firefight ensued. The police officer sustained several gunshot wounds and died on the spot.
Supt. Roghart Campo, chief of the District Special Operations Unit (DSOU) who spearheaded the operation against Castillo, said the pursuing policemen tried to get Castillo alive but he preferred to put up a fight.
The P1-million worth of shabu with an estimated weight of 200 grams were found inside Castillo’s vehicle car.
QCPD Director Senior Supt. Guillermo Eleazar said at least five packs of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu,” worth at least a million pesos were recovered from Castillo’s vehicle.
Supt. Elizabeth Jasmin, the spokesperson for the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police, said the operation was conducted jointly by members of the District Special Operations Unit and CIDG as part of the campaign of the PNP to rid its ranks of drug users and pushers.