MANILA, Philippines - Police officers are on alert for a robbery attempt by the Ozamis gang after its alleged leader, convicted bank robber Ricky Cadavero, broke out of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Saturday, sources said yesterday.
An insider told The STAR that they are watching two safehouses they have identified as Cadavero’s, one in Dasmariñas City, Cavite and the other in Pasig City.
With Cadavero’s arrest in October, some members of the group were believed to have staged smaller heists. One of these alleged members is Wilfredo Panongalinga, believed to be behind recent heists in Manila, Quezon City and Las Piñas, the source said.
According to the source, Cadavero could not have gone outside Luzon since that would require him to pass through several checkpoints. “It would be very difficult for him to take the (roll-on, roll-off ships) to get out of Luzon,” the source said in an interview.
Cadavero is touted as the leader of the “Ozamis” gang, a robbery group named as such because many of its members hail from Ozamis City. Cadavero was convicted in 2011 for the robbery at a branch of Land Bank of the Philippines along West Avenue in Quezon City in 2008. His group is also being tagged in a number of other robberies in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
Cadavero, alias Kambal, was snatched by three armed men, who posed as his lawyer and visitors, from the NBP on Saturday. A gunfight ensued between the jail guards and the armed men as they whisked Cadavero out of the state penitentiary.
He was arrested by the police in October along with his partner, Fe Tolentino, in Noveleta, Cavite. Before this, five alleged members of the group were arrested at a rented house in Cubao.