
PNP-AKG agents arrest 8 suspected kidnappers
EIGHT suspects in three separate abduction incidents in the country were arrested by agents of the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) following operations which also led to the rescue of two victims, the Journal Group learned yesterday.
Five of the suspects were arrested in a series of follow-up operations in Northern Luzon triggered by the kidnapping of a 59-year-old businessman from San Fabian, Pangasinan and his office caretaker last Wednesday, said PNP-AKG director Col. Elmer E. Ragay in a report to PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco D. Marbil.
The PNP-AKG took over the investigation of the case following a report from the Dagupan City Police Station that the two victims were abducted late Wednesday afternoon while supposed to meet a buyer of a lot owned by the businessman.
An investigation showed that the two left the businessman’s office in Dagupan City to meet the supposed lot buyer who identified himself as “George Uy” in front of the Solid North Terminal along the New De Venecia Highway 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
The supposed buyer said he wanted to inspect the lot being offered for sale. Around 2:50 of the same day, the wife of the businessman reported to the Dagupan City that her husband went missing.
The woman later told investigators of the Dagupan City Police Station that he got a call from her husband informing her they have been kidnapped by still unidentified suspects.
Around 5:26 a.m. Thursday, the woman received a text message from her husband’s mobile phone instructing her not to report the incident to the police.
The woman was also allowed to call her husband by the same text-sender. During their brief conversation, the businessman asked his wife to withdraw P1.3 million from their bank account.
He later asked her to raise the amount to P50 million and convert the money to crypto-currency for deposit to an unspecified account.
A team of PNP-AKG officers, in coordination with the Cordillera Police Regional Office headed by Brig. Gen. David K. Peredo, and the Police Regional Office 1 under Brig. Gen. Lou F. Evangelista, conducted the follow-up operations which led to the identification and arrest of the suspects in the Pangasinan kidnapping-for-ransom incident.
Around 5:45 p.m. Thursday, PNP-AKG operatives, with the help of PRO1 and PROCOR personnel,intercepted the suspects while on board a white Toyota Innova with plate no. DCP 8742.
The two victims were rescued unharmed inside the vehicle, which was stopped at a police checkpoint in Sitio Gurel in Poblacion, Bokod, Benguet.
Three of the suspects identified as Luis Pallay,48, of Tukohan, Tinoc, Ifugao; Sito Lacquias,45, a resident of Mapayao, Kayapa, Nueva Viscaya; and Gego Mayomis,30; of Eheb, Tinoc, Ifugao were arrested by the anti-kidnapping agents.
A cal. .45 semi-automatic pistol with a loaded magazine was recovered from one of the suspects. Their vehicle is now being subjected to a processing by the PNP Forensic Group.
Ragay also reported the rescue of a kidnapped Chinese national and the capture of one of the kidnappers who turned out to be a compatriot of the victim.
The victim identified as 51-year-old Lijie Cao was rescued by members of the AKG Luzon Field Unit led by Col. Jeffrey Fanged at around 10:20 p.m. last January 13 along Palanas Road in Bgy. Anabu 1-G in Imus City, Cavite.
The anti-kidnapping operation likewise resulted in the arrest of one of the suspects identified as Wiejiang Xie, 39, a resident of Tirona, Bacoor City in Cavite.
Cao was described as the owner of a restaurant in Clark Freeport Zone in Mabalacat City, Pampanga.
Ragay said two other suspects in the kidnapping of a 22-year-old female Chinese national were also arrested last January 9 by his men.
The victim, an investigation showed, was lured by her fellow Chinese whom she met online. It turned out that the victim was fetched by the two Chinese suspects at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City shortly after she arrived in the country last January 7.
While on board a car, the victim was threatened with a gun and blindfolded by the two who seized her mobile phone and forced her to give her account passwords.
As a result, they managed to withdraw 737,516 RMB from her bank account and even got a US20,000 loan after being forced to undress and was photographed while in the nude.
After the victim was released last January 9, the suspects continued to threaten and blackmail her, promoting her to seek the help of the PNP-AKG.