Angeles City – Four Chinese, believed to be members of an international drugs syndicate, were killed in a shootout with anti-narcotics operatives following a buy-bust operation at Barangay Pulung Cacutud here at dawn Monday.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 3 Information Officer Glenn Guillermo said 38 kilos of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) with an estimated street value of P262.2 million were found from the slain suspects.
Guillermo identified the suspects as Cai Ya Bing, of Yuncheng City, Shianxi; Erbo Ke, 34, of Quanzhou City, Fujian; Huang Guidong, of Zhang Zhou; and Wuyua Shen, also of ZhangZhou.
Guillermo said the suspects negotiated a drug deal with PDEA undercover agents where both groups agreed to meet at certain place in the village. He said the suspects arrived at the meeting place onboard a sports utility vehicle with the items.
Sensing they were surrounded by government agents, Guillermo said the suspects pulled handguns and fired at the lawmen, prompting the latter to fire back and shoot them down.
Aside from shabu, PDEA operatives seized four pieces of caliber .45 pistols, cellphones, a weighing scale and a cellphone charger.
The seized items and shabu were brought to PDEA headquarters for confirmatory test.
Since the Duterte administration’s war on drugs was implemented in 2016, authorities said this was the first major drug sting where Chinese drug personalities were slain.