4 arrested in Quezon City drug bust Four drug suspects including a former senior police officer 1 who went absent without official leave (AWOL) were arrested in a buy-bust operation in Quezon City Tuesday night. Quezon City Police Station 6 commander, Superintendent Joel Villanueva, identified the former cop as SPO1 Fernando Salvador, 55, a resident of Brgy. Fairview and his companions: Allan Nacbuan, 42; Joel Nalayog, 32; and Michael Trinidad, 37—all from Brgy. Payatas. According to report, Salvador was assigned to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Camp Crame before he was reassigned to the National Capital Region Police Office in August 1996 where he went on AWOL. Investigation showed that Salvador's companion, Nacbuan, was a known drug peddler involved in the proliferation of illegal drugs in Barangay Payatas while the other suspects were tagged as newly-identified drug personalities. Member of Batasan Police Station Drug Enforcement Unit conducted a drug sting against the group at No. 18 Ipil-ipil Street, Area B., Brgy Payatas at around 6 p.m. A police poseur-buyer purchased P500 worth of shabu from the suspects. After the transaction, responding officers immediately collared the suspects resulting in their arrest. Authorities were able to seize from them 11 sachets of shabu and buy-bust money, while a fan knife was recovered from Salvador. Arrested drug suspects are now under police custody and were charged with violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. (Alex San Juan) Blindfolded man stuffed inside garbage bag found floating in QC A blindfolded man with a concrete nail on his forehead and whose feet were tied with a metal wire was found stuffed inside a garbage bag floating on a creek in Novaliches, Quezon City Tuesday afternoon. Investigators of the Quezon City Police District said the man remains to be unidentified but described him to be in his early 30s, wearing a white shirt and black shorts, and with tattoos on his body. Police report showed that a witness identified as Rodolfo Ruiz was urinating on a creek along Galvez Street in Barangay Sta. Lucia past 4 p.m. when he saw a suspicious black garbage bag floating. Out of his curiosity, Ruiz fished the garbage bag out of the creek and opened it where he saw the lifeless body of the victim blindfolded while his feet were tied with a metal wire. The witness immediately reported the incident to barangay officials who relayed to the police officers for proper investigation. Authorities said that the victim suffered with punctured wounds on different parts of his body while a concrete nail was left embedded on his forehead. The body of the victim was brought to the PNP Crime Laboratory for autopsy while further investigation is ongoing to identify the victim. (Alex San Juan) Four killed in Marikina fire A cop, his wife, and two children perished in a fire after they got trapped inside their house in Marikina City on early Wednesday morning. Supt. Randolph Bides, Bureau of Fire and Protection (BFP) Marikina head, identified victims as Police Officer 3 Romar Sumait, 27, assigned at PNP Crame Crime Laboratory; Rose Sumait, 27; Kaizer Lee Sumait, 6; and three-year-old Kenzie Fae Sumait. The victims got trapped inside their house along Col. Divino St. in Barangay Sto. Nino, Marikina. Bides said the fire started from a burger store near the house of the Sumaits. The blaze reportedly started at 2:47 a.m. “The barangay watchmen told us that they were calling for help during the fire. They can’t get out their house because of the fire. Also, their windows have grills, even their air-con,” he said in Filipino. The barangay watchmen called the Marikina BFP to rescue the family. The Marikina BFP immediately went to the area and extinguished the blaze, which also gutted three other houses. It was declared fire out at 3:39 a.m. Bides said the house of the Sumaits and the burger store were only divided by a wall. A supposed door connecting their house and the burger shop was only covered by wood, where the fire entered. When firemen entered the house, they first saw one of the parents together with one of the children on the second floor. The other pair were inside the the room, the parent was seen hugging the child—protecting him/her against the blaze. “They were pair by pair. We first saw two victims near the door of the second floor lying. The other pair were hugging each other, as if the parent was protecting his/her child from the fire,” Bides said. According to BFP Marikina, the parents and children cannot be recognized as their bodies were totally charred beyond recognition. BFP Marikina said it was electrical fire that caused the blaze at the kitchen of “Signature Burger.” (Jel Santos)