Police raid motels in Sta. Cruz

Police operatives conducted yesterday inspection of seedy motels along crime-prone areas in Sta. Cruz, Manila which are suspected as lairs of criminal gangs following the upsurge of holdup incidents in the city.

The anti-criminality operation was meant to flush out criminals “hiding by day and operating by night,” according to Sta. Cruz police station chief Superintendent Romulo Sapitula.

Eleven persons with suspicious characters were rounded up and brought to the police station for character verification. A .38 caliber revolver loaded with bullets was seized from John David, 21, of C.M. Recto Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Sapitula said.

Those invited for questioning were found heavily tattooed and could not explain their presence at the motel rooms, Sapitula said. At the same time, Sapitula commended the cooperation of owners of Omico and Omar motels in allowing the police to search their establishments for suspected occupants.

“We could not claim that these motel operators are privy to the illegal activities of their occupants. Just like in any motel business, they are not in a position to verify the characters of their clients,” Sapitula said.

Intelligence reports showed that members of criminal groups used seedy motels, where a room can be rented at affordable price, as their lairs during the day.  

Aside from David, two others—Rolando Santillan, 26, and Dionisio Caingat, 28 — were verified with criminal records. The others will be charged with vagrancy after failing to state their legal purpose in staying at the motels, according to Sapitula.

He is also appealing to holdup victims to identify the arrested suspects at the police station for filing of additional charges.

Meanwhile, Sapitula and his men have intensified their twice-a-week clearing and anti-crime operations at the Manila North Cemetery for All Saints’ Day.

The 57-hectare cemetery is also home to persons with criminal records to escape police detection. Sapitula had already demolished some 30 shanties suspected as lairs of criminal gangs.