4 Divisoria robbers caught

Four members of the “Baseco Gang,” reportedly responsible for robbing Divisoria traders, were nabbed while about to stage another heist in Binondo, Manila over the weekend.

A number of the group’s previous victims identified the suspects the other day upon learning of their arrest, according to Meisic police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut.

Alleged leader Hadji Jed, 24; Edwin Catana, 31; Jon-Jon dela Cuesta, 27; and Prince Hermosisima, 25, are reportedly members of a seven-man robbery gang preying on Filipino-Chinese traders in Divisoria and have been on the police’s order of battle against organized crime syndicates, Yabut added. The suspects are also members of the Sputnik and Batang City Jail gangs, according to the police.

Recovered from the suspects were three loaded .38 caliber revolvers and a hand grenade. “My men were lucky enough to apprehend the suspects without a fight since the gang members were caught unawares. This group is notorious for shooting out with responding policemen,” Yabut said.

The suspects were caught at the corner of C.M. Recto and Ilaya streets in Binondo while casing a potential victim. Yabut had dispatched a police team to the area following information that concerned residents saw a group of armed men in the .

A police team led by PO3 Michael Pornillos is now hunting the remaining members of the gang, identified only by their aliases Tomas, Pong and Raffy.

Initial charges of illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosive were filed against the arrested suspects.   — Nestor Etolle