3 suspects in P6-M soda firm heist named

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) has identified three suspects involved in the recent P6-million robbery of a warehouse of two soda companies, as well as an alleged insider among the firms’ employees.

Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo Jr., chief of the theft and robbery section of the QCPD-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU), said witnesses identified Adonis Lania,  Jonathan Peralta, and Randy Ledason, who is from eastern Samar. The three suspects allegedly hit some of the employees with their rifles.

Superintendent Antonio Yarra, chief of the general investigation section of the QCPD-CIDU, said an inspector at the warehouse, Avelino Briones, is under suspicion because of his “uncommon behavior” during the heist.

Witnesses said when he was ordered by the robbers to get out of the cashier’s office, he just walked out as if a robbery was not happening. Briones denied the allegations.

Pedrozo also said they are looking into the possible involvement of a former warehouse employee, who was fired after  he mishandled funds.

Police investigators earlier pointed to a possible inside job in the robbery incident as the suspects appeared to have knowledge of the exact location of the three vaults containing the cash.

Armed men posing as anti-narcotics agents staged the 30-minute heist at past 2 a.m. Tuesday at the warehouse and remittance office of the two soda companies in Sitio Gitna, Barangay Nagkaisang Nayon in Novaliches. 

According to Pedrozo, Lania and Peralta are members of the “Sibuyas Group” while Ledason could be a member of the “Abuyog Group,” which is based in Samar, also his hometown. The two groups may have joined forces and turned to robbery, police said.