3 Ativan Gang members nabbed in Quezon City

MANILA, Philippines - Police arrested three suspected Ativan Gang members who almost succeeded in robbing a 32-year-old Korean woman in Quezon City Friday night.

Quezon City Police District – District Police Intelligence and Operations Unit (QCPD-DPIOU) chief, Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo, said suspects Michael Magtoto, 24; Marlon Cruz, 33; and Dianna Santos, 24, were caught just as they were about to board a taxi at around 9:30 p.m.

Police said the suspects allegedly drugged their victim, Kim Minjeong, a South Korean tourist temporarily residing at a condominium building in Malate, Manila, and left her unconscious in a Quezon City bar.

Pedrozo said the suspects befriended the victim while she was walking around Rizal Park and offered to become her tour guides, buying her a shirt and bringing her to the churches of San Sebastian and Sto. Domingo.

They then brought her to the Scott Videoke Bar in Quezon City, where the victim drank a glass of beer.

“After drinking it, the victim said she felt very weak. She woke up in Camp Karingal,” Pedrozo told The STAR in an interview.

He noted that the Ativan Gang uses a drug to render their victims unconscious in order to rob them. Ativan is a brand name of lorazepam, an anti-anxiety drug and mild tranquilizer.

He said a police informant alerted them about the suspicious manner in which the suspects treated the Korean woman.

Pedrozo said policemen, led by Chief Inspector Enrico Figueroa, got to the bar in time to stop the suspects from boarding the taxi. Police said they recovered Kim’s travel documents, camera, personal belongings and P10,000 from the suspects.

He said theft charges will be filed against the suspects before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.