ANGELES CITY – A suspected illegal drugs trafficker was shot dead and 30 others, including two minors, were arrested in simultaneous anti-narcotics police operations in this city as the government carried out a “one-time, big-time” campaign similar to those in Metro Manila and Bulacan last week that killed dozens of people.
Senior Inspector Agnes Nolasco, spokesperson of the Angeles City Police Office (ACPO), said that a certain “Jhunix”, whose true identity has yet to be established, died when he traded shots with lawmen from the Station 2. The death toll from Angeles’ campaign was relatively smaller compared to the bloody count in Bulacan (32); and in Manila (26) and Caloocan (22) last week, which drew outrage for the killing of 17-year-old student Kian Lloyd delos Santos in what is being seen as a rubout by policemen.
Two of the suspects in the Angeles City sweep were found to be teenagers, Nolasco said, but they supposedly admitted to authorities their involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Nolasco said a significant amount of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) was seized in Monday’s citywide operations by different police units in response to the One-Time Big-Time strategy of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
“Of the figure, no one among the suspects is listed as high-value targets, they are just street peddlers pestering different communities,” said Nolasco over the phone.
The suspects, Nolasco said, were brought to different police stations within the City for further investigation. “This is the biggest number of arrested street peddlers in the history of ACPO campaign against illegal drugs.”
The young offenders, Nolasco said, were brought to the Office of the City Social Welfare Department for counselling and debriefing before they will be released and placed in the custody of their parents.
Police authorities have readied criminal charges against the adult suspects.
