BY CALVIN CORDOVA
CEBU CITY – Two alleged henchmen of a convicted drug lord were killed while some P13.6 million worth of shabu was seized in an anti-illegal drug operation that ended in a shootout in Barangay Mambaling here Tuesday night.
Police identified the fatalities as Michael Johnlery Olid, 29, and Arnel Degulacion, residents of Barangay Talamban, Cebu City.
Police said the two sold a pack of shabu to a poseur-buyer, but they tried to escape aboard a Suzuki Ertiga when they noticed the presence of law enforcers.
A brief chase ensued but the two men were cornered when they reached a dead end street.
Instead of surrendering, the two men drew guns that triggered a shootout, police said.
The two died on the spot after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. Packs of shabu weighing at least two kilos with an estimated value of P13.6 million were found inside the suspect’s car.
A .45-caliber pistol and a KG-9 sub-machine gun were also recovered from the suspects.
According to Police Lt Col. Benedict Poblete, chief of the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit, there were reports that Olid and Degulacion were the henchmen of Ronald Natividad, a convicted drug lord currently serving his sentence at the Zamboanga Penal Colony.
The two men were reportedly close friends of Natividad’s son, who is currently detained at the Mandaue City Jail also for illegal drug charges.
Ronald’s wife, Annabel, was also arrested along with her two alleged cohorts in a buy-bust operation in Bacoor City, Cavite last month.
Seized from Annabel’s group were packs of suspected shabu worth P36 million.
Police said the two men were hired after one of Natividad’s men, Gilbert Lumanog, was arrested in Barangay Suba-Basbas, Lapu-Lapu City last October.
During the arrest, Lumago yielded 22 kilos of shabu worth P150 million. (Calvin D. Cordova)
