Lawman heads one of 8 rob gangs in Cebu, police reveal

CEBU — A policeman in active service and assigned in Cebu’s mid-north is leading one of at least eight robbery gangs operating in the province, authorities said.

Deputy provincial police chief Edgar Pacubas, however, said evidence still has to be gathered against the policeman before he can be arrested.

Pacubas said the policeman leads a seven-man holdup-robbery gang, and two of his cohorts are dismissed policemen, including Nilo Camay who was recently arrested.

Camay was arrested by a joint team of the provincial and Mandaue City police in connection with the holdup of two employees of Horacio Franco and Sons Farm Development Corp. who lost nearly P300,000 in payroll money. He was allegedly one of two motorcycle-riding men who blocked the company’s vehicle.

Another robbery gang has 17 members, three of whom are said to be former Army soldiers or Constabulary men.

Four other members of the gang, which operates in the cities of Talisay and Lapu-Lapu, are said to be from Ozamiz City, while the rest are locals.

Belonging to this group are Joel "Tongol" Nodalo, believed to be behind several jeepney holdups in Cebu City, and his brother-in-law.

The third robbery gang, the provincial police said, is led by a resident of Danao City who has four cohorts, aged 18 to 21. The group was allegedly behind the heist in the Land Bank of the Philippines’ branch in Talibon, Bohol last year.

The fourth group is based in Danao City and has seven members, while the fifth gang is headed by a former Army soldier who hails from Ozamiz City.

The sixth group, police said, is led by a native of Carcar but whose members mostly hail from Ozamiz. Another three-man group operates in Carcar.

The eighth is the so-called "Dolphin gang" whose activities are concentrated mainly in Metro Cebu. — Freeman News Service