5 cops tagged in kidnap of drug dealer's partner

MANILA, Philippines - The Southern Police District (SPD) is hunting five policemen for their alleged involvement in kidnapping a convicted drug dealer’s partner and holding her for ransom last week.

A source said the policemen have yet to report for work since Amina Mangondatu-Tion was rescued by SPD operatives before dawn Saturday. Their names and unit are temporarily withheld pending investigation.

Tion was kidnapped from her Muntinlupa house at about 11 a.m. Friday.

“These men broke into the house and dragged her out of her room at that hour. Very brazen!” said the source.

The suspects contacted Tion’s sister, Rosemia Tano, and demanded P3 million ransom. Tano sought the help of SPD, which helped negotiate and lower the ransom to P500,000.

The suspects later agreed to get the ransom at a gasoline station a few meters away from Camp Crame in Cubao, Quezon City. Tano turned over the P500,000 to the suspects’ emissary, Lemuel Puson, 25, at about 3:30 a.m.

Puson left but was chased and arrested by the undercover police officers. The ransom money was recovered intact, while Tion was rescued a few blocks away from the meet-up point.

SPD operatives went after Puson’s alleged accomplices but failed to reach them. The source said the suspects left and dumped Tion after receiving information that the money was already in Puson’s hands.

Puson denied involvement in the kidnapping, saying he was sent to the gas station unaware that it was for the ransom. Text messages retrieved from his cell phone proved otherwise, said the source.

Puson was charged with kidnapping with serious illegal detention before the Muntinlupa City prosecutor’s office last Saturday.

Investigators said this was the second time that Tion was abducted. The first was last Feb. 1, when she and Tano were presented with “fake” arrest warrants, another source told The STAR. The suspects also demanded P500,000 as ransom.

It is not clear, however, if the suspects in both cases are the same.