Six-man team to go after Corinthian Boys

Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco formed yesterday a six-man police team to go after remnants of the Corinthian Boys, tagged in the proliferation of Ecstasy pills in the metropolis.

Velasco said the police team will be deployed or conduct stake-out operations in areas, which were identified by the five arrested gang members, as places were they sell the illegal drug.

"The team will find out how the remnants of the Corinthian Boys, especially their couriers, operate. We will also look for ways on how to arrest them," Velasco said in an interview. "The team will be reporting to me on a daily basis."

Earlier, men of Superintendent Miguel Laurel, intelligence chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), arrested the alleged gang leader Jerome Magno and four others during a series of operations in Metro Manila. They yielded 472 pieces of Ecstasy pills.

Laurel said the group got their name because they all reside at the posh Corinthian Gardens in Quezon City.

Magno and his cohort Paulo de Asis are locked up behind bars after a Quezon City prosecutor denied them bail. The three others were released.

During tactical interrogation, they claimed that their arrest would not hinder the operation of the Corinthian Boys.

They boasted of having 20 couriers, also scions of prominent families in Metro Manila, who would continue dealing with wealthy clients, including movie personalities.

Velasco designated Superintendent Nicolas Gregorio, head of the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER), to head the six-man team who will track down the remnants of the Corinthian Boys.

Gregorio told The Star they have identified the chemist in the Netherlands believed to be the source of Ecstasy pills.

The supplier in the Netherlands was said to have lied low after learning of the arrests of several Corinthian Boys.

Gregorio said, however, that the other members continue their illegal activities after reportedly getting their Ecstasy supplies in the US and other European countries through packages sent through mail.