Truck with P1.2-M rice hijacked in Caloocan, abandoned in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - A 10-wheeler cargo truck carrying 550 sacks of rice was hijacked by at least seven men Thursday night in Caloocan City and was later abandoned, its cargo intact, in Sampaloc, Manila.

Police Officer 2 Pidencio Saballo, of the Caloocan police investigation unit, said the hijacking occurred along Rizal Avenue Extension at around 2 a.m.

The hijackers’ white Mitsubishi L300 van blocked the cargo truck driven by Cipirino Garcia, 32, when he slowed down at the corner of RAE and 7th Avenue.

At least seven men armed with handguns and wearing jackets and baseball caps, alighted from the van and at gunpoint dragged Garcia and helper Wilson Bandolin, 29, from the truck.

The hijackers blindfolded the two men, then gagged them and bound their hands with packing tape. They left Garcia and Bandolin unharmed along B. Serrano street, a few blocks from 7th Avenue, and sped away.

Sampaloc police station chief Superintendent Jemar Modequillo said police officers manning a checkpoint along Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard were informed by a tricycle driver that the truck was abandoned at the intersection of the boulevard and Santol street by two men.

“It is possible that the hijackers were forced to abandon the truck after noting the… police checkpoint in the area,” Modequillo said.