MANILA, Philippines - Police arrested before the Holy Week the leader of an “Acetylene gang” and three of his members tagged as behind the P500,000 robbery at a mall in Antique.
Western Visayas police director Chief Superintendent Cipriano Querol Jr. said they are now coordinating with their counterparts in Metro Manila and Rizal province to determine whether the suspects are behind the pawnshop robberies in Marikina City and in Angono town. “There are several pawnshop heists in Metro Manila and Rizal which we strongly believed have been perpetrated by the same robbery gang. We wanted to file additional charges against them so they would rot in jail,” said Querol.
The Western Visayas police director identified those arrested as gang leader Eduardo Lalao, an engineer in Mt. Province; Bong Flores, 42, of Arellano, Angeles City; Marshall Qudong, 26, of Moncada, Tarlac; and Joseph Santos, 42, of Curva, Santiago, Agusan Del Norte.
Lalao verbally admitted their role in the P500,000 robbery at the City Square Supermarket along T.A. Tobias Fornier, San Jose, Antique on April 5.
Querol said that Lalao, a miner in Mt. Province and his gang have to dig up some 50 meters of dirt to reach the vault of the supermarket which they emptied of cash and valuables.
They left behind an oxygen tank, a driller and ropes.
With the help of an informant, elements of the Antique Provincial Police Office Intelligence Branch, and the San Jose Municipal Police Station arrested Lalao at the Marina Lodge in San Jose town on April 18.
He yielded P17,000 as part of the loot.
Two days later, Lalao led the police operatives, augmented by the Pandan Municipal Police Station to the three other suspects at Barangay Carmen, Pandan town.
The police recovered from Flores a .38 caliber revolver with three live ammos. They also confiscated at the apartment of the suspects a hand grenade, four mobile phones, wallets, bonnets (ski masks), LPG hose, rope, and auger bit (drill bit).
According to Querol, the suspects arrived in Antique last December. “They pretended to be peddlers of wallets and belts while at the same time conducting surveillance operations at the supermarket,” said Querol.
The four suspects are presently detained at the San Jose municipal jail while police are preparing charges against them.