Cops nab Harurot Gang members

The Manila police scored another major triumph against organized crime yesterday with the arrest of five members of the so-called "Harurot Gang," allegedly responsible for a series of robbery-holdup incidents in Metro Manila.

Western Police District (WPD) director Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong identified the suspects as Roel de la Rosa, 31, the gang’s leader, of 1928 Kahilum II, Pandacan; Rafael Cordero, 28; of 1494 Labores st., Pandacan; Joseph Fermejo, 33, of 2584 Laura st., Pandacan; Allan Lim, 39, of 2437 Lemery st., Singalong; and Cipriano Oliveros Jr., 35, of 1829 Kahilum st., Pandacan, the gang’s alleged fence. De la Rosa’s parents Rogelio, the gang’s financier, and Dolores had been arrested in Pandacan on Feb.18.

Bulaong said the gang gained notoriety for their modus operandi of robbing at gunpoint several restaurants and convenience stores in Metro Manila then speeding off with their getaway car, hence, earning the tagged as the "Harurot Gang" and Metro Manila’s Public Enemy No. 1. Bulaong added the arrest of the Harurot Gang was part of President Arroyo’s directive to curb street crimes, particularly cellphone snatching within a month.

The WPD chief presented the suspects to Manila Mayor Lito Atienza at the City Hall during a press conference yesterday. Victims of the gang trooped to City Hall and identified the suspects as the persons who held them up in different occasions.

Some of the establishments whose patrons were also robbed by the gang are the Noodle King eatery in Dimasalang, Sampaloc; Jugnos Restaurant in Makati City; an eatery in Kamuning, Quezon City where 19-year-old Erick Perea was shot dead; and the Warzone Computer shop in Singalong, Manila. The group was behind the killing of one Christopher Sta. Maria in Pandacan, Manila and the robbery-holdup of five other individuals, Bulaong said.

The gang members were arrested by operatives of the WPD’s Theft and Robbery Section under Senior Inspector Leopoldo Mangilinan at their safehouse at Wood-hills Subdivision in San Pedro, Laguna. Their arrest was covered by a warrant issued by Judge Leonardo Reyes of Regional Trial Court Branch II.

Recovered from the suspects were a caliber .45 and 9 mm pistols with magazine and ammunition, cash money in different denominations amounting to P40,000 and their get-away vehicle, a Honda Civic (UJU-218).

Mangilinan said the group’s hideout was under surveillance for several weeks by a composite team of operatives led by SPO4s Enrico Miranda and Daniel Bautista with the recent arrest of four members of the gang in Pandacan, Manila on Jan. 31.

Multiple charges of robbery, assault, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, carnapping, serious physical injury, homicide and murder are now being readied against the suspects.