Teener, drug dealer killed in Laguna sting positive for gunpowder
SLAIN 16-year-old Jhondie Maglinte Helis and wanted drug trafficker Antonio Dalit tested positive for gunpowder nitrates, an indication they fired guns during a bloody anti-narcotics operation in Biñan City in Laguna last week, the Philippine National Police said.
PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar also said that the ballistics and cross-matching examination conducted on the slugs recovered from the bodies of the two slain suspects led to the identification of the policemen who fired the shots that killed the duo on Wednesday last week.
According to the PNP Chief, the results of the investigation by the Fact-Finding Investigation Task Group created by Police Regional Office 4-A director, Brig. Gen. Eliseo DC Cruz are proof that the police organization is serious in finding out the truth behind the incident.
“The Regional Crime Laboratory Office of Police Regional Office 4A reported that the slugs specimen taken from the cadaver of Jhondie Maglinte Helis matched with a caliber. 45 gun submitted by one of the operatives with a rank of Police Senior Master Sergeant,” said Eleazar.
“A cal .45 pistol owned by a Police Commissioned Officer also matched a bullet recovered from Dalit’s body based on the same report of the RCLO4A,” he added.
The top cop said that a total of 11 firearms being carried by the Laguna policemen during the June 16 operation were submitted for ballistics examinations and cross-matching.
Both suspects suffered two gunshot wounds based on the autopsy report of the RCLO4A. Both Helis and Dalit tested positive for gunpowder nitrates during the conduct of paraffin tests on their bodies.
Eleazar, however, said that while the identities of the policemen were already established, the missing part is the determination on whether or not there was indeed an exchange of gunfire between the police operatives and the two slain subjects of police operation.
Another primary focus of the Fact-Finding Investigation Task Group is to uncover the truth behind allegations that Helis was handcuffed at the time he was shot.
“Hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin malinaw kung ano ang tunay na nangyari. Nananawagan po ang PNP sa mga kinauukulan na agad idulog sa mga awtoridad kung tayo po ay may nalalaman na mahalagang impormasyong makatutulong sa imbestigasyon. Tinitiyak ko ang inyong proteksyon,” he said. Alfred Dalizon
“Hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin malinaw kung ano ang tunay na nangyari. Nananawagan po ang PNP sa mga kinauukulan na agad idulog sa mga awtoridad kung tayo po ay may nalalaman na mahalagang impormasyong makatutulong sa imbestigasyon. Tinitiyak ko ang inyong proteksyon,” he said.
