Operator from Marikina is Metro’s new ‘jueteng king’

A gambling lord based in Marikina City is the new "jueteng king" of Metro Manila, police sources said yesterday.

The gambling lord, Eduardo "Eddie" Caro, is allegedly raking in P12 million daily in 13 towns and cities of Metro Manila besting his former mentor, Tony Santos, sources added.

Santos’ daily take last year was placed at P2 million, far below his gross sales of P15 million during his heydays.

The success of Caro brought to two the number of gambling lords who had hit paydirt after breaking away from Santos. The first was Bong Pineda, who left for the United States, apparently to avoid testifying in the impeachment trial of President Estrada.

Caro also allegedly operates jueteng  in Metro Manila’s neighboring provinces such as Rizal, Laguna and Cavite, police sources added.

Both Santos and Caro were earlier arrested by Chief Superintendent Romeo Maganto, head of Task Force Katapat of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). They were released after posting bail. Both denied their involvement in jueteng.

Maganto warned Caro and Santos of dire consequences should they return to their former illegal businesses. Because of Maganto’s warning, Santos wanted to fold up but decided against it for fear that his loyal workers would be displaced. He then trimmed down his jueteng operations to four areas in the metropolis.

Because of Santos’ withdrawal from the business, Caro decided to operate full blast and invited Santos’ bet collectors (kabo’s) into his fold by offering them 30-percent commissions. Santos is giving his wards only 20-percent commissions.

Santos and Caro are both based in Marikina City.

Superintendent Leon Kison, Marikina City police chief, said Caro’s and Santos’ bet collectors continue to do the rounds of the city but they draw their winning combinations someplace else.

Kison recently ordered an all-out offensive against Caro, Santos and another gambling lord, Joel Guevarra, to prevent their illegal gambling operations in the city.

But a STAR source claimed Caro’s rise to the top was mainly due to his strong connections with police and local government officials.

His brother-in-law, a certain Julie Baba, is allegedly his liaison officer with policemen and politicians. Julie Baba is allegedly armed with a caliber .45 automatic pistol.

Meanwhile, the Navotas police Special Operations Group (SOG) arrested over the weekend five alleged jueteng personnel in a suspected gambling den in Tabing Dagat st., Barangay Daang Hari, Navotas.

The suspects, identified as Manueltio Perez, 17, Belinda Adducul, 48, Josie Dellosa, 23, Elvira Valles, 58, and Boyet Alvar, 16, were reportedly apprehended while reviewing their bet lists.

The police seized from the suspects eight jueteng bet lists, a marker, and two ballpens.

The operatives, failed to state in their report how much bet money they recovered from the five suspects. – With Pete Laude