Three‘guns-for-hire’ nabbed

CEBU, Philippines - Firearms and a grenade were seized from three suspected guns-for-hire and robbery group members who were arrested while allegedly having a meeting Thursday night along Ayala Access Road, Mabolo, Cebu City.

Suspects Ronnie Lapi, 35, a resident in the area, Romeo Baldidos, 39, and Melvin Ollamot, 24, both from Barangay Carreta, were arrested by operatives of the City Intelligence Branch who responded to an armed person alarm.

The operatives rushed to the area and found the suspects along the road apparently discussing something.

The police then frisked the suspects and found from Lapi were a caliber 357 revolver with ammunition, a magazine loaded with ammunition for a caliber 45 pistol and a fragmentation grenade.

The police confiscated from Baldidos a caliber 38 revolver with ammunition and another caliber 38 revolver also with ammunition from Ollamot.

Senior Superintendent Noli Romana, director of Cebu City Police Office, said the suspects are possibly involved in a number of robbery and killing incidents in the city.

Lapi, according to Romana, is suspect in the killing of Rowen Lobitania on July 20. The suspect was also reportedly involved in a shooting incident involving Dindo Ancero and Romulo Ligan that left Natalio Lauron, the younger brother of Carreta barangay captain Eduardo Lauron, injured in June 2009.

Lapi has also been arrested by elements of Waterfront Police Station in 2010 for drug charges, said Romana.  The seized firearms will be subjected to a ballistic examination to check if these were used in previous shooting incidents.

The suspects, in an interview, denied owning the firearms and grenade.

Lapi, claiming to be a carpenter, a mason and technician, said that he was outside his house waiting for a customer to arrive to supposedly fix his speaker.

He denied involvement in the killing of Lobitania and in other shooting incidents.

CIB deputy chief Inspector Gomersendo Mandawe affirmed that the suspects are members of a robbery group and are actually guns-for-hire.

Mandawe said the suspects even have names of their targets written in a notebook, which the police failed to recover in a follow-up operation.

“Duna’y target mga tindahan ug dunay kuhaon. Among gi-search ang listahan, wa gyud namo ma-recover,” said Mandawe. — Bryner L. Diaz/NSA (FREEMAN)