BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The ambush in Barangay Talampas, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental on Sunday may be related to illegal drugs, according to Mayor Renato Gustilo, citing the initial findings of the city police.
Investigators, however, still do not have a clear idea as to who was or were the targets of the ambush, said the mayor.
Three persons died in the ambush. Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday this may be a case of mistaken identity.
The San Carlos police suspect that a certain alias “Irak” may have failed to remit his earnings from drug trafficking.
The gunmen may have mistakenly thought that “Irak” was in the vehicle they sprayed with bullets.
San Carlos City police deputy, Police Lieutenant Roby Aurita, said some of the occupants of the ambushed vehicle were in their drugs watch list but he declined to give specifics.
Aside from the illegal drugs angle, police investigators are also exploring the possibility that the ambush was connected to gambling. The ambush victims were bound to cock derby.
They hope to get more information from the lone ambush survivor, Renante Chui who got wounded. They would wait for him to recover.
On Feb. 20, an undetermined number of gunmen opened fire at a white Mazda sedan in Sitio Villa Elena, Barangay Talampas, San Carlos City.
Forty-year-old Russel Bacao and 17-year-old Andre Fajardo died instantly while 51-year-old Rudy Dela Fuente died from gunshot wounds on the way to the hospital.
The ambush was the second in Negros Occidental recorded this month following last week’s on a police patrol car perpetrated by New People’s Army rebels in the town of Binalbagan which resulted in the wounding of two police officers and a teenaged civilian./PN
