“Why only now?”

This was the question raised by lawyer Augusto Isidoro, former assistant director of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7), after Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz, considered the most notorious drug personality in the region, was shot dead by policemen in Las Piñas City.

Isidoro, now the director of the NBI in Central Mindanao, believes Jaguar, who last week expressed his desire to surrender and reveal the names of his connections, was killed to silence him.

“In my personal opinion, without questioning the legitimacy of the police operation, Jaguar was killed maybe because he is about to divulge the identifies of his bosses and protectors,” he told Cebu Daily News.

Isidoro, former head of the NBI-7 narcotics division, said Jaguar, like the other drug lords, would not put up a fight against law enforcers and would rather give up when cornered because they could easily have possible charges against them dropped.

“Drug lords in the Philippines know they can easily bribe policemen, and if the police did not accept their offers, they can bribe the prosecutors or the judges. Jaguar won’t put up a fight against the arresting officers because he knew how to get away with his crimes,” he said.

Isidoro, who was assigned in Cebu from March 2015 to January 2016, claimed Jaguar had several “protectors” including police officers, politicians and other “big” personalities in the different government offices.

“These people behind him feared so much that Jaguar might implicate them soon so they summarily killed him,” Isidoro said.

“Dead men tell no tales. Obviously the purpose of the killing is to silence him (Jaguar). Those masterminds can now sleep soundly,” he added.

was surprised by the policemen’s ability to quickly trace Jaguar’s whereabouts.

“Who can track Jaguar’s whereabouts? Precisely his protectors. He was framed by his protectors and he was easily killed. If Jaguar was able to amass big money and properties, the more money his protectors and masterminds got,” he said.

Diaz’s death, he said, raised so many unanswered questions and doubts.

“Imagine, he was followed all the way to Manila? Maybe, somebody or one of the bosses had financed the operation just to silenced him,” he said.

“The happiest people on Jaguar’s death are his bosses, protectors, politicians and police officers who benefited from his illegal drug trade,” Isidoro added.