2 Concepcion Gang members captured by Bicol cops
POLICE Regional Office 5 (PRO5) director, Brigadier General Jonnel C. Estomo on Sunday announced the capture of two more members of the notorious Concepcion Criminal Gang in Bicol region following a raid in their hideout in Libon, Albay.
“We have accounted for two more members of the dreaded Concepcion Gang and are still tracking down their elusive leader Gilbert Concepcion,” said the Bicol police director in a report to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar.
Gilbert Concepcion remains one of Bicol’s most wanted persons to date. He was described as a former member of the New People’s Army (NPA) who surrendered to the military and became an Army operative.
However, he became an Army deserter who formed a gang involved in gun-for-hire, gun trafficking, robbery-extortion and illegal drug activities in Bicol, said Estomo.
The official said that around 1 p.m. last Wednesday, the two members of the gang identified as Jonathan Lascano and Ramil Ramos were arrested in Barangay Alongong in Libon municipality by members of the PRO5 Regional Special Operations Unit headed by Lieutenant Colonel Wilfredo V. Sy.
Lascano is the subject of a warrant for violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act of 2013 issued by Judge Salve Eva Villareal-Dimabayao of the Iriga City Regional Trial Court Branch 35.
No bail was recommended for the temporary liberty of the suspect.
According to Estomo, the suspects are believed to be among armed members of the gang who engaged members of the PRO5-RSOU in a gunbattle in Bgy. Libtong in Libo last July 17.
The shootout erupted when the gang members ambushed the lawmen as they were about to arrest several targets in the area.
Brig. Gen. Estomo said that a team from the RSOU5 led by Major Ramon Czar Solas, joined by officers from the Albay Police Provincial Office, Libon Municipal Police Station and the Bicol Criminal Investigation and Detection Group headed by Col. Randy Glenn F. Silvio were involved in last Wednesday’s operation.
He said that Ramos attempted to escape by running to the back portion of the house but was cornered following a brief chase. The suspect yielded an unlicensed caliber .45 pistol with a magazine containing seven live ammunition.
The two suspects are now being held at the Libon police jail with Ramos facing a separate case for violation of RA 10591, said Estomo.
