MAJOR anti-crime and anti-terror targets of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have been hauled to jail as a result of massive manhunt operations launched by the PNP Intelligence Group (PNP-IG) last month, the Journal Group learned.

PNP chief, General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil lauded the efforts and contributions of the PNP-IG in maintaining peace and security in the country, the unit mainly responsible for gathering real-time intelligence needed by the government to proactively address potential threats to public safety.

Among the ‘big fishes’ caught as a result of ‘intelligence-driven operations’ launched by the PNP-IG headed by its Officer-in-Charge, Brigadier General Romeo J. Macapaz are five foreigners and two of the country’s most wanted persons. They are the following:

— Joginder Geong alias ‘Joginder Geyong/Kant Gupta,’ a 40-year old Australian found hiding in Bacolod City. Around 5:30 p.m. last July 8, the undocumented alien was arrested inside Sta. Lucia Gardens Subdivision in Barangay Taculing, Bacolod City.

Members of the PNP-IG Foreign Intelligence Liaison Division and Regional Intelligence Unit 6, joined by officers from the Bacolod City Police Station and the Fugitive Search Unit of the Bureau of Immigration arrested the Australian for violation of the Philippine Immigration Law, he being tagged as an ‘undesirable alien’ already.

The Australian was described as a ‘hard-core criminal involved in several heinous crimes and organized crime syndicates who has been convicted for an arms act case in India and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

He was found hiding in the country using the fake name ‘Kant Gupta’ in his Nepalese passport believed to have been obtained fraudulently. The suspect is also the subject of a letter from the First Secretary of the Indian Embassy to The Philippines which linked him possibily to the Khalistani Terrorist Group operating in India.

— Masaya Sawada, a 43-year-old-Japanese national wanted for involvement in an online scam in Cambodia in 2023. The suspect fled Cambodia last year to evade conviction and was believed to have hidden in Manila where he allegedly started an online telephone fraud.

The Japanese national was arrested around 11 a.m. last July 16 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City by combined personnel of the IG-FILD, Regional Special Operations Group and Regional Intelligence Division of the National Capital Region Police Office, PNP Aviation Security Group and BI-FSU.

— A follow-up operation in BF Homes, Parañaque City conducted by the same team of lawmen on the same day resulted in the arrest of three other Japanese nationals identified as Jun Kiyohara,29; Seiji Zusuki, 29; and Koji Ueda,27. All were reported to be members of the syndicate from Cambodia.

The three, along with Sawada, were arrested on the basis of a BI Mission Order for violation of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940.

— Arnel Santos Ogalesco, a 47-year-old subject of a warrant of arrest for rape with no bail recommended by the Catanduanes Regional Trial Court Branch 42 on May 14, 2013.

The concurrent PNP Deputy Director for Intelligence, Brig. Gen. Macapaz said that members of the Regional Intelligence Unit 5 developed the intelligence packet which resulted in the capture of the accused in his hiding place in Barangay Bagbag 1 in Rosario, Cavite last July 4.

The RIU 5 was joined by officers from the PNP-IG Counter-Intelligence Division, Rosario Municipal Police Station, Virac MPS and the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Catanduanes Provincial Field Unit in arresting the suspect who was accused of raping a minor in 2011.

In hiding for more than 13 years, the accused is the subject of a P345,000 reward from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

— Christian Almazan, a resident of Koronadal City in South Cotabato wanted for two counts of rape with no bail recommended by the Tacurong City RTC Branch 20 on November 4, 2020.

The suspect was arrested in Bgy. Poblacion in Malungon, Sarangani by combined members of the RIU 12, Malungon MPS and 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company of the Sarangani Provincial Police Office last July 10. The PNP-IG said the suspect is wanted for raping a minor in separate occasions in July 2020.

The DILG offered a P130,000 reward for any information that would lead to the capture of the suspect.

Brig. Gen. Macapaz said they are hot on the trail of more wanted persons including foreign nationals involved in criminal offenses in the country.

On orders of Gen. Marbil, the PNP-IG has joined the stepped-up efforts of the national police force to account for more wanted persons nationwide.

The unit has also called on the citizenry to provide them with more information that would result in the arrest of crime offenders and terror suspects in the country with the assurance that the rule of the law will be followed at all times as they respond to emerging security threats.

Established in 1979, the PNP-IG’s mandate is to gather, analyze and disseminate intelligence information to support the PNP’s law enforcement operations.

Over the years, the group has continuously evolved to meet the changing security landscape and improve its capability to address criminality and other emerging threats to national security.