2 members of con gang fall

Police scored well against crime yesterday after arresting two members of a notorious gang, an armed robber and recovered a sack of dried marijuana in separate police operations.

Sr. Insp. Michael Bastes chief of the Theft and Robbery Section and Supt. Patrocinio Comendador presented the suspected members of the “Budol Gang” identified as Magno Mias, 43, of Buhangin, Davao City and his alleged accomplice Medase Castro, 45, of barangay Mantuyong Mandaue City.

The arrest of the two happened after one of their victims recognized Mias who was hanging out in a downtown department store in Colon St. and immediately called for help from the store personnel and security guards.

The victim, a 75-year-old pensioner who asked not to be identified but resides in barangay Duljo-Fatima told The Freeman that she saw Mias in the said department store and realized this was the man who duped her of her jewelry worth P300,000; $800 and more than P8,000 cash a few weeks ago.

The woman immediately grabbed the suspect and demanded the return of her money and jewelry but the suspect reportedly got angry and just answered “wako ko kaila nimo” before he started running away.

Angry with what the man did to her, the victim immediately chased the suspect and at the same time shouted for help until security guards grabbed the suspect and turned him over to the Waterfront police station.

Since the police have had several complaints of the same offense in the past two weeks, the Waterfront police called up the TRS for help and it was at this instance that the suspect reportedly tried to negotiate with the policemen offering the 75-year-old victim P100,000 and additional P50,000 for the policemen.

“He wanted to bribe the police officers including the complainant for his release with special instruction to the police not to call the other victims,” Comendador said.

Bastes immediately set up the trap and instructed SPO2 Geoffrey Diola to meet the person that Mias instructed to bring the money to a fastfood chain near the CCPO and eventually arrested Castro.

According to Bastes, that since April they have received several complaints of “Budol” incidents in various areas in the city.

It is also the first time that the TRS caught the two because they are elusive and not from Cebu.

The group operates by offering victims “cash” in exchange for their valuables, later the cash would turn out to be “boodle” or fake money.

Meanwhile, the Mambaling police yesterday a notorious robber after he was trapped in a house after robbing his fellow jeepney passenger.

The victim, Elena Miangay, 58, of barangay Esperanza, Aloguinsan town, was on board a jeepney heading south when Arnold Abadilla, 39, of B. Aranas Extension, barangay Duljo-Fatima pointed a gun at her forehead and grabbed her bag when they passed C. Padilla Street.

Miangay surrendered her bag, but as the suspect got off she followed and shouted for help and bystanders chased the suspect who entered a house and was trapped there until police arrived.

Sr. Inspector Andres Bayarcal of the Mambaling police station responded to the alarm and recovered the victim’s bag and a snub-nosed .38 cal. revolver with five live rounds from the suspect.

In yet another successful police operation, members of the SWAT team recovered an estimated five kilos of marijuana abandoned by a man who was driving a yellow and black motorcycle from barangay Busay.

 SPO2s Jose Ragel, Edmundo Capanpangan and Flaviano Atuel, SPO1s Diosdado Malazarte, Victorio Durante and Leovil Singson and PO3 Marcelo Lerio were manning a checkpoint when they encountered the man on the motorcycle who turned tail and sped off.  They gave chase and later found the motorcycle and the marijuana abandoned near an uptown hotel.

Comendador said they received information that a man would be bringing in dried marijuana onboard a motorcycle to the city prompting him to order checkpoints along the Transcentral Highway.

The courier managed to passed the fist two checkpoints until he was spotted by the team of SWAT who also set up a checkpoint near the exits of Maria Luisa Subdivision to barangay Busay.

According to records at the Land Transportation Office the abandoned motorcycle was owned by a certain Crisanto Baeus of barangay Talamban.

Comendador believes the marijuana came from Balamban town and that it was intended for Cebu City.  — Edwin Ian Melecio and Trex Eden O. Ignacio, UP intern/BRP