BAGUIO CITY – The top drug personality in the Cordillera was killed while his three alleged cohorts were arrested by combined police operatives and anti-narcotics and intelligence agents during an anti-illegal operation in his hideout at Manuel Roxas St. Lower Brookside, here, Saturday night.
Senior Superintendent George D. Daskeo, City Director of the Baguio City Police Office, identified the fatality as Testy Sotero, of legal age, a resident of Ucab, Itogon, Benguet and was the top drug personality in the region while he named his cohort as Reservoir Pablo Quelala, 35, married, apartment owner and of Lower Brookside, Baguio City; Leopoldo Prigilla Helaryo, Jr., 35, single unemployed and resident of Upper Market Subdivision, Baguio City and Jonard Wansi Manuel, 26, single, unemployed, a resident of Upper Market Subdivision, Baguio City and a native of Ambassador Tublay, Benguet.
“We were supposed to serve the warrant of arrest against Sotero in his suspected hideout when he opted to engaged the operating troops to a shootout that resulted to his being killed. The death of the regions top drug personality will be a big blow to the illegal drug operations regionwide.
Confiscated from the notorious drug personality and his cohorts were a Cal. 22 revolver LR Arminius (made in Germany) with serial no. 294707 loaded with six live ammunitions cal. 22 and one empty cartridge cal. 22. That was used by the accused Sotero. Also recovered at the crime scene are two 9x19mm fired cartridge cases, one red bull cap and two metallic fragments, one glass vial containing brown crystalline substance with approximate weight of 28 grams including glass vial; one glass vial containing brown crystalline substance with approx. weight of 18 grams including glass vial; one glass vial containing brown crystalline substance with approx. weight of 14 grams Including glass vial; one heat sealed transparent plastic sachet containing white crystalline substance weighing approx. one gram Including the container; one transparent plastic sachet containing traces of white crystalline substance; one transparent plastic container containing traces of white crystalline substance; one transparent plastic container containing white crystalline substance with approx. weight of 10 grams Including its container; one small sagada handy craft bag containing one transparent plastic sachet with traces of white crystalline substance and one transparent plastic container with traces of white crystalline substance with small foil; two improvised glass tooters; one glass alcohol lamp; one blue lighter; one black portable digital weighing scale (max. 120 g without batteries), two rolls of foils; one gas torch with cartridge; one black pouch containing three color red, black and yellow lighters; one glass improvised tooters one portable digital weighing scale capacity 3000 grams without batteries; and one portable digital weighing scale (max 5000 grams, as well as undetermined volume of shabu.
Responding police operatives and elements of the Scene of the Crime Operation (SOCO) team recovered from the crime scene multiple spent shells of calibre .45 pistol.
The arrested cohorts of the suspect were subsequently brought to the BCPO headquarters for further questioning while the remains of the suspect was brought to a local funeral parlor.
Daskeo said the death of the notorious drug personality in the region should serve as the final warning to those who are involved in the illegal drug trade to give up such illegal activity or face the consequences of their illegal actions.
By Dexter A. See