Cops say same group pulled off Pasay, Calamba heists

Police are looking into the possibility that robberies at a security agency in Pasay City and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) office in Laguna on New Year’s Eve were pulled off by only one group.

Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., intelligence chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said the suspects were wearing police vests and used similar vehicles.

"We are still tying to find out whether the suspects were communists rebels or members of a big-time robbery group," said Rojas.

Rojas noted that the suspects, numbering almost a dozen, moved with precision in both robberies.

The NCRPO intelligence chief said one of the suspects, who was in police uniform, knocked at the Dasia security agency in Pasay City at about 10:45 p.m. last Dec. 31 and ordered the guard on duty to open the door.

Rojas said the suspects knew where the security agency was keeping its firearms.

"When asked where the firearms were stored, the guard initially pointed to a van, but the suspects already knew where the bulk of the weapons were being kept," Rojas said.

Earlier reports indicated that the suspects took 35 M-16 rifles, 15 shotguns, two handguns and 15 bullet-proof vests. The heist was over in less than 15 minutes.

The robbers escaped on board a white Mitsubishi Lancer and an AUV.

An hour later, similar vehicles were seen in front of the SLEX office in Calamba, Laguna.

A man in police uniform asked the guard on duty to open the gates while his companions positioned themselves around the establishment.

Rojas said the robbers took P4 million in cash, representing the earnings of SLEX in four shifts.

"Banks were closed that day so the cash stayed at the office. The suspects likely had inside information," Rojas said.

NCRPO chief Director Vidal Querol visited the security agency office, which is still conducting an inventory of firearms.

Querol created Task Force New Year, headed by Pasay City police chief Senior Superintendent Rosendo Franco, to investigate the agency heist while Rojas was tasked to conduct a parallel probe on the intelligence aspect of the twin robberies. – With Evelyn Macairan, Ed Amoroso