A report reaching Camp Olivas here identifi ed the slain cop as PO1 Jayson Ramos Damian, 28, a resident of Barangay Bakod in Cabanatuan.
Damian was the third policeman linked to drugs to be killed since last month in Nueva Ecija. Thursday last week, PO3 Michael Juan was also shot dead in San Leonardo town and probers also found several sachets of shabu in his possession.
Last month, dismissed policeman Edmund Plamenco, who was suspected of involvement in the drug trade, was also killed near his house Barangay Aduas Sur in Cabanatuan.
In a report, Cabanatuan police chief Supt. Ponciano Zafra said the body of Damian was found along the Circumferential Road near a busy bus terminal in San Juan Accfa. Probers said he sustained gunshot wounds in different parts of his body which was sprawled near his motorcycle.
Zafra said the Nueva Ecija scene-of-the-crime operatives found 13 sachets of shabu and an Armscor .45 pistol loaded with eight live ammunitions in Damian’s pockets.
The report quoted witnesses as saying that Damian was on board his motorbike when shot by motorcycle-riding gunmen who were wearing helmets. Fourteen fired shells were found in the crime scene.
Zafra declined to link the murders of the two cops to drugs, pending the results of thorough investigations. There have been reports that some policemen in Nueva Ecija are “ninja cops,” a term coined by Pres. Duterte to refer to policemen involved in illegal drugs.
He reported that in Cabanatuan, a total of 2,816 drug personalities have surrendered to the police, including 2,701 users and 116 who confessed being drug pushers.
In related developments, Zafra revealed that since he took over as chief of police, seven policemen were already relieved for suspicion of involvement in the illegal drug trade.
