4 suspected hijackers caught in Manila

MANILA, Philippines – Four suspected members of a hijack syndicate were arrested by police while in the act of unloading stolen cargo in Paco, Manila at past midnight yesterday.

Manila Police District director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rongavilla said the suspects were caught through a global positioning system (GPS) device installed in the hijacked delivery truck. The installation of GPS devices in trucks was initiated by the National Capital Region Police Office.

Rongavilla identified the arrested suspects as Christian Candelario, 30; Paulo Izumi, 23; Rogelio Temporasa, 21; and Ruel Flores, 26.

In a report to Rongavilla, Pandacan police station chief Superintendent Roderick Mariano received a radio message from the NCRPO on the whereabouts of a hijacked van containing 675 large boxes of toiletries. The vehicle, an Isuzu Canter closed van (RDK-302), left the company’s warehouse on Monday night but failed to reach its destination.An alarm was then flashed by the NCRPO on all its police districts for possible location of the missing van.

Mariano and his men proceeded at Mendiola Extension in Otis, Paco, the area where the GPS had been tracked. They caught the four suspects unloading the boxes from the van into their vehicle, an Isuzu ELF truck (ZPW-393).

The suspects failed to show documents of the stolen cargo and were immediately arrested, according to Mariano.

The suspects are now undergoing tactical interrogation to flush out other members of the hijack gang and to find the whereabouts of the missing van driver identified as Joven de la Paz. – Nestor Etolle, Non Alquitran