QCPD sets sights on 12 crime groups

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) is monitoring more than a dozen criminal groups, officials said yesterday as they complained that many members of these gangs have been able to go back to their former activities after posting bail.  

“These people had been recidivists and yet because of the (small) bail amount set under the law for the crimes they had committed, they were able to easily regain freedom,” QCPD director Senior Superintendent Richard Albano told The STAR in an interview.

He said he ordered an inventory of the groups encountered by police officers and found that a number of alleged gang members are actively involved in carjacking, robbery, snatching, burglary and shoplifting after posting bail.

Albano said among the groups they are monitoring is a gang of carjackers allegedly led by Miguel Jimenez. Four alleged members of the group were arrested in August 2011 at a checkpoint along D. Tuazon street.

The QCPD is also watching a gang led by Tarzan, whose members either smash car windows or pick the locks on car doors to get valuables in parked cars.

A number of criminal groups focus on robbing passengers of jeepneys and other public utility vehicles (PUV), Albano said. One group is led by Uchat and Christian, whose members have been arrested but are out on bail, he added.

The QCPD chief also linked the members of the True Brown Style gang to a series of PUV robberies. Another group, allegedly led by a family surnamed Lanot, reportedly robs passengers of jeepneys at the boundary of Caloocan and Quezon City, he said, adding that the Anton robbery group operates along Commonwealth Avenue.

As for street robberies, Albano said the Trese Hudas gang operates in Novaliches, a gang led by Tisoy covers Commonwealth Avenue while the Jabar group strikes along Quezon Avenue.

Police officers are also monitoring the motorcycle-riding robbers identified as the Limjoco brothers as well as the tandem of Pat and Renz, who reportedly wait for victims along dimly lit streets, Albano said.

Among the burglary groups the QCPD is monitoring are the Bryan Forbes group, whose allegedly members are out on bail, as well as groups named after their alleged leaders – Llorente, Abasta and Tanchengco.

Albano said they are also monitoring a group of women who enter malls to either steal from mall-goers or shoplift. The Escalada group’s members distract their victim to steal their belongings, he said.

Another group is led by a man who identifies himself as Dr. Bryan de Guzman to a shop’s employees while the other members shoplift, Albano said.