10 'cops' hijack cargo truck in Caloocan

MANILA, Philippines - A 10-wheeler cargo truck loaded with some P1.5-million worth of assorted grocery items was hijacked by at least 10 armed men in police uniform at the boundary of Malabon and Caloocan early morning Tuesday.

Superintendent Florendo Quibuyen, Caloocan City police acting chief, said the hijacked truck (TWX-133), owned by Fairways Cargo Movers Corp., was recovered at a private pay-parking lot “somewhere in Manila” Tuesday afternoon with its cargo missing. “We already have a lead of the group responsible for this,” Quibuyen told The STAR yesterday. He declined to give more information for it might jeopardize the ongoing follow-up operation but claimed they were already zeroing in on the suspects, whom he said are “big” and well entrenched.

Truck driver Reynaldo Pula, 39, said he was on the way to Boyax Trucking in Malabon City to deliver the cargo when two motorcycle-riding men wearing police general office attire (GOA) uniform flagged them down along MacArthur Highway at around 5 a.m. When Pula stopped, a blue Tamaraw FX suddenly appeared and at least eight more “policemen” armed with handguns alighted. The gunmen dragged him down off the truck with helpers Julito Binabay and Albert Ular.

They were forced into the FX and were hogtied by the suspects. They were dropped unharmed at a subdivision in Sta. Quiteria, Caloocan City North.

The gunmen brought the hijacked truck to Manila without knowing that another helper Joseph Pavillani was sleeping inside with the goods.

When the suspects’ cohorts started to unload the cargo, Pavillani, suspicious of what’s going on, pretended to be one of them. When he had a chance, he called his boss, Jess Bartolome who informed him that their truck was hijacked.

The Caloocan police and the NPD-Special Operations Group led by Chief Inspector Jay Agcaoili and SPO1 Jonathan Taguba, in coordination with the Manila Police District, swooped down on the parking lot but the suspects and the P1.5-million cargo were already gone. A hot pursuit operation was still ongoing yesterday.