Father and son nabbed for gunrunning

A 60-year-old man and his 26-year-old son, who were suspected of involvement in the manufacture and sale of homemade guns, were arrested in a buy-bust operation in Tondo, Manila on Friday.

The suspects, identified as Dante and Marc Dominic de Jesus, were allegedly selling air guns converted into caliber .22 pistols, according to Superintendent Romulo Sapitula, chief of the Manila Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU).

Each firearm is reportedly sold at P1,500.

Acting on a tip from an informant, Sapitula tasked his operatives to conduct a buy-bust operation following a series of positive surveillance missions.

An undercover cop managed to buy a paltik caliber .38 revolver for P1,500 from the suspects, who asked him to choose from a set of three guns which also included a caliber .38 snub nose revolver and a caliber .22 converted air gun.

CIDU operatives arrested the two and seized the illegal firearms.

Last Wednesday, CIDU operatives led by Inspector John Guiagui also arrested a suspected gunrunner in Quiapo, Manila.

Regie Valmocina, 30, of Tondo, Manila, is the alleged supplier of homemade firearms to criminal gangs. During his arrest, an improvised 12-gauge shotgun with ammunition was recovered from his possession.

The three suspected gunrunners were among more than 50 suspected criminals rounded up in the city and presented to the press yesterday by MPD officer-in-charge Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarzosa.

Romeo Villaflor, 47, of Dagat-Dagatan, Malabon was arrested by operatives of General Assignment Section (GAS) led by Inspector Casan Ali while loading three spare tires to his vehicle in Sta. Cruz, Manila yesterday morning. The suspect was arrested after he failed to produce receipts for the tires

GAS chief Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo Jr. has deployed his men in the Sta. Cruz area following a series of thefts of spare tires, mostly from sports utility vehicles.

Meanwhile, Sampaloc police station chief Superintendent Jose Asayo presented to the press three suspected robbers preying on computer shops.

A caliber .38 revolver and a fan knife were recovered from Alvin Supan, Edwin Nodalo and Ivan Malabarbas.

Asayo said the rapid deployment of police station operatives led to the arrest of the three notorious robbers.

Abarzosa recently ordered the confiscation of loose firearms, which he said are the cause of rising criminality in the city.