A Canadian national and a former policeman suspected of drug dealing have been killed in separate gunbattles with Philippine anti-narcotics agents, an official said yesterday.
A Chinese man believed to be part of an international drug gang was also arrested in one of the deadly raids, said Dionisio Santiago, director general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Antonio Kcomt, 37, a Canadian of Chinese descent, died in hospital after being wounded on Friday morning in the first shoot-out, Santiago said.
Another suspected drug dealer, former police inspector Nathaniel Capitanea, was killed yesterday in a gunbattle with agents who raided an upscale apartment in the financial district of Makati, Santiago said.
He said Capitanea was killed during an attempt to arrest Hong Chun Chang, the alleged Philippine contact of a drugs syndicate operating out of Hong Kong.
Hong has been detained and was being questioned, Santiago said.
Capitanea went underground in 2006 after he was involved in the theft of around 7kg of methamphetamine from a police evidence room, police said.
Kcomt was shot after firing at agents who had been tailing him for two months, when they flagged down his vehicle in suburban Quezon City, north of Manila, Santiago said.
Kcomt was a member of the Canadian chapter of the Hell’s Angels biker gang, Santiago said, and was believed to be “the main source of cocaine and Ecstasy” in many Manila nightclubs.
The Canadian embassy was not immediately available to comment.
Santiago said that Kcomt was also wanted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for fraud and theft in Canada.
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