3 cops nabbed for abduction of Chinese trader

Cops arrested three fellow police officers for the abduction of a Chinese businessman on Friday in Valenzuela City.

The suspects — PO2 Reynaldo Turla, 39; PO2 Godofredo Animos, 38; and PO1 Rodrigo Gadia, 22; all assigned at the Northern Police District (NPD) headquarters in Kaunlaran Village, Dagat-Dagatan Caloocan City — are now detained at the Valenzuela City police detention cell.

Turla was assigned at the NPD-District Mobile Force (DMF) while Gadia and Animos were detailed at the office of Senior Superintendent Guillermo Paguio, NPD directorial staff chief. They would be presented to Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian and the media tomorrow.

Investigation revealed that at around noon on Friday, at least five armed men barged inside the office of RD Metal Craft at 188 Calle Onse, Barangay Parada in Valenzuela City and introduced themselves as police officers.

They dragged the firm’s owner, a certain Allan Ang, and his three employees —Roger Navarro, Leonardo Bravo and Danilo Bravo — to a white L-300 van owned by the company.

Three of the suspects and the four victims boarded the van and drove around Valenzuela City for some 30 minutes, followed by two other suspects riding in tandem in a motorcycle.

Upon reaching a Metrobank branch along Paso de Blas, the group stopped the car and two of them reportedly dragged Ang inside the bank’s ATM booth.

When the victim and the suspects were returning to the van, a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team led by Valenzuela City police chief Superintendent Billy Beltran, aboard their patrol vehicle, approached the suspects.

These prompted the armed men to scamper to different directions. The SWAT operatives pursued the fleeing suspects that resulted in the arrest of Turla, Animos and Gadia and the recovery of the suspects’ blue motorcycle, with plate number UJ-1642. Also seized from the suspects was the location sketch of RD Metal Craft.

The two other unidentified suspects are now being hunted by Beltran’s men.

NPD director Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil said that his command would "never tolerate" the wrongdoings of his men.