Zambo cops linked to robbery captured

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Four local police officers, one of them a lieutenant, all linked to a daring robbery of a wealthy businessman, were captured separately here over the weekend.

The suspects were part of a group of seven men, all wearing bonnets, who raided the house of the trader in the village of Tetuan on November 14 and held horrified civilians at gunpoint before carting away two safety vaults and other valuable items.

The vaults were eventually recovered by policemen the next day, but were emptied of their valuable contents.

Three of the suspects were captured on Saturday at a beach resort in Cabaluay village and the fourth in the village of Putik. The policemen are members of the Police Regional Headquarters Support Unit, the Zamboanga City 2nd Mobile Force Company, Zamboanga City Police Patrol Unit and Police Station 7. One of them was also in possession of crystal meth.

Col. Alexander Lorenzo, chief of the Zamboanga City Police Office, has confirmed the arrest of the officers, saying the capture came following intense and massive manhunt operations involving various police units and the Police Regional Command Office.

 

Lorenzo said they tracked down the escaped vehicle of the suspects and their routes by following video recordings from public surveillance cameras in the villages. The vehicle turned out to have been rented by the suspects from a private rent-a-car company which provided the police with the GPS locations of the vehicle.

 

“Mabuti at may GPS yun rent-a-car at nalaman namtin kung saan sila pumunta at positively yun ang naging lead natin kung sino yun nag-renta at iyon ang nagbigay sa atin ng malaking impormasyon at kung sino ang mga gumawa nito at iyon ang ibinigay natin sa ating mga nasa manhunt operations the night na nangyari iyon at hanggang ngayon,” he told a local radio station Brigada, adding the manhunt operations were led by Col. Elmer Solon.

 

Lorenzo said the others, who were former cops, had surrendered, but he did not provide details of this, saying police investigation is going on. It was unknown how much money was taken from the vaults or whether this was recovered by the police or not.

 

He lauded all those involved in the operations for the capture of the suspects and warned rogue cops, saying they will be dealt with strongly by the police.  (Mindanao Examiner)