BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
Charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 for selling and possessing illegal drugs are now readied against a businessman from whom the police seized P2.5 million worth of suspected shabu during a buy-bust operation that resulted in a shootout in Bacolod City Monday.
Aside from illegal drug charges, the police is also poised to file a case for assault on an agent of person in authority against Xavier Louis Rosales, alias “Boss” of Purok Mahimayaon, Brgy. Bata, Bacolod, P/Lt. Col. Joem Malong, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office-6, told the DAILY STAR.
Rosales and his live-in partner, Hilda Trujillo, were supposed to be arrested by the combined operatives of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority and Bacolod City Police Station 4 along Malaspina Street in Brgy, Villamonte after they sold four large sachets of suspected shabu to a police poseur buyer.
But Rosales and Trujillo tried to evade arrest by speeding off on board their Fuego pick-up and fired at the arresting operatives, who were forced to retaliate and hit their vehicle.
SHOOT-OUT
The shootout lasted for few minutes and resulted in the death of Trujillo, who succumbed to gunshot wounds while being rushed to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital. Rosales, who was also wounded, was operated on in the same hospital.
Station 2 policemen are now detailed at the CLMMRH where Rosales has been admitted and recuperating, while Trujillo’s remains have already been taken by her relatives Monday.
The .45 caliber pistol used by Rosales in the shootout with the law enforcers was recovered by the Scene of the Crime Operatives along with 52 additional large sachets of suspected shabu from his vehicle after the incident.
SOFT DRINKS AS FRONT
P/ Lt. Glen Soliman, one of the team leaders in the operation, said that Rosales is also into selling soft drinks, which they believe is just his cover-up for his illegal drugs link.
Soliman said that the couple belonged to the Divinagracia drug group, one of the seven illegal drug gangs operating in Bacolod and Negros Occidental. He said Rosales and “alias Bro”, the supplier of illegal drugs of Christian Tulot, the self-confessed killer of his four relatives in Brgy. Tangub on Easter Sunday, is one and the same person.
TRANSACTION ONGOING
Despite the fact that their leader, Michael Divinagracia, has been hiding from authorities for a long time, the Divinagracia drug group continues to operate in Bacolod and nearby areas, Soliman said.
In fact, their confidential agents were able to transact with the gang members, who are now detained. RPDEU has already forwarded this information to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, he said.
Soliman added that although Greyhound Operations have been conducted, the members of the illegal drug group were still able to find ways to hide their cellphones and continue with their illegal drug transactions. Information received by the RPDEU-6 revealed that the Divinagracia group is the only drug syndicate active in Bacolod and Negros Occidental while the six other groups have been dormant following intensive anti-illegal drug operations.*
