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[av_heading heading=’DRUG DEAL GONE WRONG? Police eye drugs in Molo driver’s death’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY RUBY SILUBRICO
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Sunday, June 11, 2017
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ILOILO City – Police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a tricycle driver from Molo district.
Officers are looking into the possibility that a drug transaction gone wrong led to the killing of the 30-year-old Joseph Bahandi.
“Basi may lansihanay sang droga or may ara nga unpaid illegal drugs. Amo na nakita naton nga medyo malapit nga motibo (A drug deal that turned out badly is the most likely motive),” said Senior Inspector Tranquilino Querubin, chief of Jaro police station.
Bahandi was found dead in a secluded area along a floodway in Barangay Buhang, Jaro around 6 a.m. on Friday.
His body showed signs that he was summarily executed — multiple gunshot wounds, eyes and mouth wrapped in packing tape, hands bound with packing tape.
Police recovered 11 plastic packs of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) from his pocket.
Querubin said they are also verifying reports that the Bo. Cochero, Molo resident was a Prevendido drug group member.
The Jaro police are coordinating with counterparts in Molo in delving deeper into Bahandi’s personal background — including his supposed involvement in the drug trade and other crimes, Querubin said.
After the Philippine National Police launched an intensified antidrug campaign in 2016, Bahandi turned himself in to the Molo police.
Bahandi claimed he was a drug user, the Molo police commander Senior Inspector Marlon Valencia said. He was also involved in a homicide case in 2004, Valencia added.
No suspect has been identified as of this writing, said Querubin.
Curiously, the way Bahandi was left in Jaro reflects the style of execution attributed to vigilantes believed to have been emboldened by the Duterte administration’s relentless crackdown on drugs.
Several bodies of suspected dealers and users in Metro Manila and elsewhere in the Philippines were seen riddled with bullets, their heads wrapped in packing tape, hands tied with similar adhesive material.
Security guard Elmer Toledo, who was posted at a nearby privately owned lot, found the tricycle driver’s body.
He said he heard five bursts of gunfire around 2 a.m. Around four hours later, while doing a routine inspection of nearby areas, Toledo found an unspent bullet of a .45-caliber handgun, an empty bullet shell of a 12-gauge shotgun and a pair of slippers.
This prompted him to further inspect the area until he discovered the body.
As of this writing, police have yet to trace the shooter/s through the recovered items.
Bahandi’s tricycle, which he was renting from owner Reynaldo Noquera of Molo, was later found in Barangay Pakiad, Oton, Iloilo.
Bahandi was last seen alive around 1 a.m. on Friday, picking up passengers in front of a pharmacy near Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital./PN
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