FIFTEEN wanted lawbreakers were arrested by agents of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 11 in a string of anti-criminality operations in Southern Mindanao this week, which saw the local police mourning the death of one of their colleagues who died of cardiac arrest while involved in an anti-narcotics operation in Davao Oriental.

PRO 11 Director Brigadier General Benjamin H. Silo Jr. said that Master Sergeant Antonio Cajegas, a member of the San Isidro Municipal Police Station (MPS), was assisting his colleagues in the conduct of the sting in Purok San Vicente 2 in Barangay Manikling in San Isidro town when he suddenly collapsed around 7 p.m. last Monday (Feb. 27, 2023).

Members of the team rushed the cop to the Lupon District Hospital, where an attending physician declared him dead upon arrival due to cardio-pulmonary arrest secondary to an acute myocardial infraction.

Silo expressed deep sadness over the untimely death of the Davao Oriental policeman and said all necessary benefits and other help will be given to his immediate family.

The sting in Bgy. Manikling resulted in the arrest of a drug suspect, tagged as the 2nd most wanted drug personality in Southern Mindanao, said the official.

A forest technician from Bgy. Matiao in Mati City, Davao Oriental, the suspect yielded some five plastic sachets containing two grams of shabu worth P13,600 and the buy-bust money during the entrapment operation conducted by officers from the Davao Oriental Provincial Police Drug Enforcement Unit and the San Isidro MPS under Major Lord Harold Catabona and Captain Ryan Joy Esteban.

Silo also reported the arrest of six other “high-value individuals” (HVIs) in the region following separate buy-bust operations this week.

He said that a suspect was arrested in a sting in Purok Mandarin in Bgy. Poblacion, Maragusan, Davao de Oro 5 p.m. Monday. The suspect yielded about P340 worth of shabu and a marked P1,000 bill.

The 2nd, identified as “Melchor,” was arrested in a sting in Purok 1, Bgy. Poblacion in Compostela, Davao de Oro on the same day. The suspect was found in possession of a gram of shabu valued at P6,800 and a marked P500 bill.

Three others, all tagged as “high-value targets” (HVTs) in Region 11, were arrested in an anti-narcotics operation in Purok 1, Malipayon, in Bgy. Dahican, Mati City, Davao Oriental, which led to the dismantling of a known “drug den.”

Recovered during the operation were some five grams of shabu worth P34,000, assorted drug paraphernalia, and a marked P500 bill.

All suspects are now facing charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, Silo said.

The other suspect arrested was wanted for violation of the anti-carnapping act of 2016 and was caught in Sitio Lower Balabagan in Bgy. New Argao in Malita, Davao Occidental, last Thursday. The court set a P300,000 bail for the temporary liberty of the accused.

Another was alias “Batiwo,” a man wanted for kidnapping, and serious illegal detention with no bail recommended. The suspect was arrested in Bgy. Kimlawis in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur, during an operation that also led to the safe rescue of a 15-year-old male student.

The 3rd, with alias “Florencio,” wanted for child abuse, yielded a caliber .45 pistol with a magazine containing 12 live ammunition when arrested inside his residence in Sasa, Davao City.

It turned out that the suspect was a former Army soldier who has been accusing his wife, also an Army trooper, of having an affair with another man. The woman sought the help of the local police when the suspect slapped her several times and threatened to kill her.

The 11th suspect was arrested in Bgy. Sinaragan in Matanao, Davao del Sur based on a warrant of arrest for large-scale estafa with no bail recommended by Judge Marici Daray of the Digos City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 18.

The 12th, wanted for destructive arson, was arrested on Wednesday based on a warrant issued by Judge Arlene Lirag-Palabrica of the Tagum City RTC Br. 31.

The 13th, was arrested in Upper Wangan, Calinan District in Davao City on the strength of a non-bailable warrant for statutory rape issued by Judhe Zarah Aguisando-Silvosa of the Davao City RTC Branch 33 last January 18.