CONGRATULATIONS are in order for the group of policemen who finally put an end to the checkered career of a group of heavily-armed thieves and hijackers posing as ‘PNP and NBI’ agents in the country.

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I’m referring to the members of the Cordillera Police Regional Office headed by Brigadier Gen. Ronald Lee and the PNP Highway Patrol Group under Brig. Gen. Alex Tagum who were commended by PNP chief, General Gilor Eleazar for their role in a hot pursuit operation which ended up in a gunbattle that left five of the suspects dead along the Marcos Highway in Benguet last Thursday.

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It turned out that the Cordillera police and PNP-HPG agents finally caught up with the fake ‘PNP and NBI agents’ shortly after they hijacked a cargo van in La Trinidad municipality around 12:10 a.m. last Wednesday.

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Unknown to the policemen, they would be encountering the ‘armed and dangerous’ members of a syndicate involved in hijacking and other criminal activities in Cordillera, Metro Manila, Ilocos-Pangasinan and Central Luzon regions.

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“I laud the fast action of our men in this incident. Kung hindi dahil sa mabilis nilang pagtugon, marahil ay tuluyang nakatakas ang mga suspek na ito at maaaring nakagawa pa ng ibang krimen,” Gen. Eleazar said following the encounter.

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Brig. Gen. Lee said two of the slain suspects wore PNP uniforms: a GOA Type B uniform and a PNP athletic t-shirt and had PNP identification cards on their wallets. The 3rd had a ‘National Bureau of Investigation ID.’

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Lee told me that the five suspects were killed in a shootout with officers along Marcos Highway 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. The five suspects were on board a stolen aluminum wing van with plate no. ADH 3116 and a Chevrolet SUV without license plates when they clashed with the policemen.

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Five semi-automatic pistols were recovered from the slain suspects. Lee said two of the pistols recovered from 1st and 2nd suspects had the same serial numbers. It was also the same case on the pistols found on the possession of the two other slain men as both bore the exact same serial numbers indicating they are loose firearms.

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According to Lee who happened to be a former chief of the HPG Special Operations Division-Task Force Limbas, the suspects were identified as the men who seized at gunpoint the truck being driven by one Alezandro Ochavillo, a 46-year old native of Butuan City along Swamp, Betag in La Trinidad town around 12:10 a.m. Wednesday.

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The driver positively identified two of the slain suspects as the men who forcibly stole his truck when he was brought to the scene. The Cordillera police director said that the suspects were identified as members of the Nick Cuellar Carnapping/Highway Robbery Group’ operating in Metro Manila, Ilocos-Pangasinan, Central Luzon and Cordillera regions.

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Brig. Gen. Tagum on the other hand reported that they have identified a certain ‘Nick Gener/Boss Nick’ as the leader of the gang. In fact, member of the ring being hunted by the police, one David Dasalla Rapal turned out to be one of the five suspects killed in the Benguet firefight.

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Recovered from the possession of the slain suspects were four caliber .45 semi-automatic pistols, one 9mm pistol and several loaded magazines and spent casings. Following the operation, Gen. Eleazar commended members of the Regional Highway Patrol Unit-Cordillera under Lieutenant Col. Kimberly Molitas, the HPG Special Operations Division-Task Force Limbas headed by Lt. Col. Joel Manuel Ana and members of the Tuba Municipal Police Station headed by Major Leonard Danasen for their role in the neutralization of the suspects.

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I found out that the group of Cordillera and PNP-HPG operatives went after the suspects after receiving the report on the hijacking. An alarm was flashed for the interception of the suspects who were on board an SUV when they stole at gunpoint the wing van.

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The policemen later caught up with the suspects along Taloy Sur Proper in Marcos Highway and were forced to fire on them when they started shooting.

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Brig. Gen. Lee told me that one of the suspects who was found dead at the rear of the wing van yielded a chamber-loaded cal. .45 pistol with a magazine with three live ammunition. The suspect was wearing a pink t-shit and a light blue ‘maong’ pants. The 2nd suspect wearing an orange t-shirt and ‘maong’ pants’ was found in front of the hijacked van. He was in possession of a chamber-loaded cal. .45 pistol with a magazine with three bullets.

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Lee said that the 3rd suspect was wearing a PNP GOA B uniform and black leather shoes when found lying on his back at the Baguio City-bound road shoulder, a meter away from the SUV. Recovered near the victim’s body were a chamber-loaded .45 pistol and a black pouch containing a PNP Identification Card with the name ‘Police Chief Master Sergeant Marvin A. Aquino.’

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The 4th suspect was found wearing a PNP athletic t-shit and a commo green pants and black leather shoes. He was discovered lying face down on the road shoulder at the left side of the SUV. The suspect had a Colt modified 9mm without serial numbers and a magazine with two live ammunition on his pocket.

The suspect yielded a PNP ID card with the name ‘Police Senior Master Sergeant Cesar Alpha Blomes’ and a PhilHealth ID card with the name ‘David Dasala Rapal.’

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The 5th suspect who was wearing a red t-shirt and gray shot pants and a pair of black slippers was found lying face down near the SUV. He was found in possession of a cal. .45 pistol with a jammed bullet and a magazine with four live ammunition. Lee said that recovered from the suspect’s right pocket was a wallet containing an NBI ID card under the name of one ‘Leovin S. Sondagon.’

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As of yesterday, the weapons recovered from the slain suspects were still being subjected by the Benguet Crime Laboratory to ballistics examination and cross-matching to determine if they have been used in the commission of other crimes in the region. Thanks to the Cordillera police and the PNP-HPG for this successful hot pursuit operation. Crime does not pay indeed.