CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga – A suspected illegal drug trafficker who occupied the Number 1 slot in the local rankings of prohibited drugs peddler in Nueva Ecija was killed when he traded shots with lawmen along Purok Uno, Barangay Dalampang, Cabanatuan City Tuesday.
Supt. Ponciano Zafra, Cabanatuan City police chief, identified the suspect as Felicito Tanjusay Barcoma, 44, of Purok Apitong, Barangay Poblacion, Gen. Natividad town in Nueva Ecija.
Zafra said the suspect suffered multiple gunshot wounds in different parts of his body and died on the spot.
The suspect, Zafra said was carrying four plastic packs of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) with an estimated street value of P1 million when chanced upon by lawmen out to serve a warrant of arrest issued by Judge Felizardo Montero, of Cabanatuan City Regional Trial Court.
Zafra said Barcoma detected the presence of policemen, prompting him to open fire while fleeing on board a Mazda sedan. An exchange of gunfire ensued, in the process killing the suspect instantly.
Police found a caliber .45 pistol at the scene of encounter, said Supt. Zafra.
Policemen found six sachets of shabu with a total weight of 60.23 grams inside the car.
Barcoma is suspected to be the supplier of shabu in the towns of Talavera and San Jose and other places in Nueva Ecija.
“The suspect is very elusive. He only stops for a few minutes to deliver shabu to his network of pushers here and in other towns. But our weeks of intelligence work paid-off, we cornered him at Barangay Dalampang, where he was about to deliver illegal drugs to one of our informers”, Zafra said.
