The new leadership of the Quezon City Police District has intensified its internal cleansing with the killing of a police senior inspector in a buy-bust that led to a shootout between the suspect and policemen early Tuesday morning at the corner of Commonwealth and Regaldo Avenues.
QCPD chief Senior Supt. Guillermo Eleazar identified the slain suspected narco-cop as Senior Insp. Ramon Castillo, an active member of the QCPD’s District Anti-Illegal Drugs (DAID).
Castillo died in the spot, Eleazar said. At least five packs of shabu worth more than P1 million were recovered inside the suspect’s black Innova.
He said Castillo sensed that his buyers were police officers so he quickly boarded his car and sped away toward Regalado Avenue. He was chased by the policemen.
Castillo was cornered at Bulova Street and it was there where he alighted and engaged the cops in a shootout.
Just recently, Eleazar named three QCPD cops who tested positive for illegal substances following confirmatory tests. They are Police Officer 2 Marlou Baradi from the District Public Safety Batallion (DPSB), PO2 Cornelio Sarmiento from the Anonas Police Station, PO1 John Santos from Batasan Police Station, and PO1 Porferio Sarigumba from Talipapa Police Station.
Prior to this, at least 35 QCPD cops were reassigned to different units in Mindanao for their alleged involvement in illegal-drug syndicates.
The Philippine National Police has ramped up its war on drugs on orders from President Rodrigo Duterte and has killed more than 300 pushers and users. The PNP also continues its internal cleansing to weed its rank and file from scalawags and criminals.
Just five days after he assumed office, Duterte named three alleged drug lords and their narco-general protectors in the country.
They are Peter Lim, a Cebu-based businessman and Peter Co and Herbert Colangco alaias Ampang, both inmates at the National Bilibid Prison.