ILOILO – The Sangguniang Bayan secretary of the municipality of Sara was shot in an antidrug buy-bust operation of the police yesterday.
James “Jaguar” Balsomo III put up a fight, according to Police Major Jonathan Pinuela, chief of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office’s Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU) that carried out the buy-bust.
With three gunshot wounds on the chest, Balsomo was taken to The Medical City in Iloilo City for treatment.
The buy-bust took place in Barangay Antonio Yusay, Sara around noon. A PDEU asset purchased a big sachet of shabu for P50,000, said Pinuela.
Balsomo pulled out a .45 pistol and fired it upon realizing he was being entrapped but failed to hit the asset, said the PDEU chief.
Policemen on standby shot Balsomo.
Pinuela said Balsomo was a “high-value” suspect linked to the Odicta drug group’s Balume subgroup.
The Balume group had been linked to illegal drugs and gun-for-hire activities in northern Iloilo.
“After we received reports that he was engaged in illegal drugs not only in Sara but also in neighboring towns, we placed him under surveillance,” said Pinuela.
Aside from the .45 pistol, a .38 revolver was also recovered from the suspect, said Pinuela.
Balsomo’s family, however, disputed the PDEU’s claim of a buy-bust. The SB secretary was shot outside the municipal hall while walking; he was taking a break for his lunch, they said.
On Oct. 17 last year, Balsomo was a subject of a house raid for alleged unlicensed guns but the police found none.
A year before that, on Aug. 17, 2017 PDEU and the Special Weapons and Tactics team of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office searched his house. Balsomo was not around but cops recovered a grenade, 39 empty bullet shells of a .45 pistol, assorted live ammunitions, four packs of dried marijuana leaves, and empty plastic sachets.
The police had a search warrant from Judge Rogelio Amador of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 68./PN
