Police revealed they are considering additional angles with regard to the recent murder of Fernando Torreno, a former barangay councilor for Don Salvador Benedicto’s Barangay Kumaliskis. Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO) director, Police Colonel Romeo Baleros, earlier stated, “Investigators are presently looking at the angle of [a] personal grudge as the motive.”
However, in a radio interview yesterday morning, Baleros said police are also considering the possibility that Torreno’s murder stemmed from the recent seizure of P1.2 million worth of marijuana. A buy-bust operation was earlier conducted in the town’s Barangay Igmaya-an, where cops recovered eight kilograms of dried marijuana, valued at P960,000; along with 120 live marijuana plants valued at P158,400.
The NOPPO chief added, paraffin and ballistic tests on the firearm recovered from the three “persons of interest” are still being conducted.
Earlier, San Carlos City police arrested 27-year-old Jonever Nuñez, 32-year-old George Larida, and 42-year-old Armando Larida at a police checkpoint when they recovered a .45 caliber pistol and a hammer from the suspects.
The elder Larida, who owns the .45 caliber pistol, denied the allegations of being involved in the murder, adding, he and the two other suspects were heading for work in San Carlos City.
He, however, refused to further elaborate on the firearm recovered from his possession.
The elder Larida faces charges for illegal possession of a firearm, while his two passengers potentially face conspiracy charges./DGB, WDJ