“I have always been against the gangster as hero.” –Ruby Dee

It seems nobody is interested in identifying the killers responsible for the death of alleged Western Visayas drug lord Melvin ‘Boyet’ Odicta, Sr., who also went by the alias ‘Dragon.’ Neither lawyers nor family have requested a follow-up investigation.
The family of the slain believed they were innocent and were subject to an “extrajudicial system.”
Both Odicta and his wife, Merriam, were shot dead in Aklan’s Barangay Caticlan on August 28, 2016.
Aside from the unidentified gunman, several backup accomplices were believed to be on board the vessel, following the couple since leaving port in Batangas.
Odicta, who wounded in the leg, managed to call his lawyer Gualberto Cataluna.
However, before being brought to a hospital, he was reportedly handcuffed by police, with witnesses, including Cataluna, corroborating the incident.
Minutes later, the man considered “the most powerful and well-connected drug lord” in the Western Visayas, was dead with bullet wounds to his head and body.
While his wife was fatally shot in the back, Odicta himself was eventually transferred to a Malay hospital where he was declared dead.
The couple was on their way from Manila to Iloilo and were said to have been held hostage in the capital city by then-Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno.
There were those who believe the powerful “silenced” the opposition (who had sought protection from them) and reportedly panicked when learning they were on a supposed list submitted by the couple.
Some of those who protected ‘Dragon’ were allegedly politicians and police officials.

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Alex P. Vidal, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo./WDJ