TWO Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group-led (PNP-DEG) anti-narcotics operations on Sunday resulted in the killing of a big-time Nigerian drug trafficker and the arrest of three other “high-value targets” (HVT) as well as the seizure of nearly P15 million worth of shabu, a report to PNP chief General Dionardo B. Carlos said yesterday.

The two major buy-bust operations came in the wake of an instruction from Gen. Carlos for the PNP-DEG to get more top drug targets in the country thru more “intelligence-driven” anti-narcotics operations this year.

PNP-DEG director Brigadier General Randy Q. Peralta said that the West African national identified as Ejiofor Elendu Smart was killed in a gunbattle with officers from the DEG Intelligence and Foreign Liaison Division and their National Capital Region Special Operations Unit along Batasan-San Mateo Road in Bgy. Batasan Hills in Q.C. 11:00 p.m. Sunday.

A 2nd suspect identified as Oga Aboy alias “KC Bamba” was able to elude arrest during the sting and is still being hunted by a team from the PNP-DEG led by Lieutenant Colonels Arnulfo G. Ibañez and Glenn C. Gonzales, the official said.

Peralta said that they conducted the sting with the help of the National Capital Region Police Office’s (NCRPO) Regional Intelligence Division, Regional Drug Enforcement Unit, and Regional Special Operations Group under Maj. Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr. and the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) headed by Brig. Gen. Remus B. Medina.

Recovered from the possession of the slain foreigner were 2 kg. of the so-called “poor man’s cocaine” worth P13.6 million, the boodle money topped by some marked bills, a chamber loaded caliber .45 pistol with a magazine containing some live ammunition, a brown wallet containing assorted IDs and a mobile phone he used in making the illegal drug transaction with a poseur-buyer.

“We have neutralized a suspected member of a West African Drug Syndicate involved in the large-scale distribution of shabu in Metro Manila and its nearby regions,” said Brig. Gen. Peralta.

According to the official, the suspect was about to be arrested by plainclothes officers posted at the scene shortly after he sold the drugs to an agent when he pulled out a concealed firearm and fired shots at the team prompting other team members to retaliate, killing him on the spot.

Members of the Bureau of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) were also involved in the major anti-drug operation.

Brig. Gen. Peralta said that the other buy-bust operation in Bgy. Datu Esmael in Dasmariñas City in Cavite 6:00 p.m. Sunday resulted in the arrest of three HVTs identified as Alinader Mamocarao Alikan, 36; Leo Dichosa Bacay, 41; and Jamal Alonto Imam, 30.

Officers from the PNP-DEG Special Operations Unit 4-A (PNP-DEG SOU 4-A), with the help of the Dasmariñas City Municipal Police Station, placed the three under arrest shortly after they conspired to sell 200 grams of shabu worth P1.360 million to a poseur.

Apart from the illegal drugs, the suspects also yielded the buy-bust money and a digital weighing scale. All are now being held at the PNP-DEG SOU 4-A office while non-bailable charges for sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 are being readied against them.

The two drug operations came in the wake of another PNP-DEG-led sting in Zamboanga City last Friday evening which resulted in the killing of an HVT following a shootout with undercover officers.

Brig. Gen. Peralta said that suspect Puriti Taraji alias “Bossing” managed to shoot an operative of the DEG Special Operations Unit 9 identified as Patrolman Ronevil Batal before he was killed.

The suspect, a resident of Bgy. Laum in Maimbung, Sulu had just sold 4 kg. of shabu worth P27 million to a poseur buyer in Bgy. Maasin, Zamboanga City around 10:00 p.m. Friday when he sensed the ongoing entrapment operation and fired shots at the anti-narcotics officers hitting Pat. Batal.

Brig. Gen. Peralta said that other members of the team returned fire killing the suspect on the spot. Pat. Batal was declared in a stable condition in a local hospital where he was visited and given a Wounded Personnel Medal and financial assistance by Peralta last Saturday.

Recovered from the possession of the slain suspect were a chamber-loaded cal. 9mm semi-automatic pistol with several live ammunition, four plastic packets containing around 4 kilos of shabu, and the buy-bust money.

All the recovered pieces of evidence were placed under the custody of the Regional Forensic Unit 9.

Brig. Gen. Peralta said that the slain suspect has been under their radar this year amid intelligence reports he is a big-time drug transporter in Mindanao.

“We have received information that he is connected with a Malaysian Drug Group operating in Tawi-Tawi, Jolo, Basilan, and other parts of Western and Northern Mindanao,” he said.