PNP-AKG nab 3 more kidnap suspects
PHILIPPINE National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) arrested three more wanted members of the Madriaga Kidnapping-for-Ransom Group in a manhunt in Laguna early Saturday morning.
PNP-AKG director Brigadier General Rodolfo D. Castil Jr. identified the three arrested as Allan Guevarra, 45; Edwin Prestado, 54; and Jonathan Arante, 68.
In a report to PNP chief General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr., the official said the trio were arrested inside the Rampage Madriaga Farm in Barangay Galalan in Pangil, Laguna around 4:30 a.m. Saturday.
Guevarra is a resident of Bgy. Sulib in Pakil, while his co-accused are both caretakers of the Madriaga Farm.
With the help of officers from the Laguna Police Provincial Office under Colonel Harold P. Depositar, members of the PNP-AKG arrested the trio without firing a shot.
The three are now in jail at the Laguna Police Provincial Office.
Castil said that a search of the farm led to the confiscation of a cache of high-powered firearms and ammunition which were believed to be being used by the KFR gang in seizing their targets.
The weapons seized include pistols, automatic rifles and 12-gauge shotguns and dozens of assorted live ammunition.
The recovered evidence will be submitted to the PNP Forensic Group for ballistics and cross-matching examinations aimed at finding out if they have been used in the commission of kidnappings-for-ransom and other criminal activities in the past.
Last July 12, PNP-AKG operatives in Cainta, Rizal arrested the leader of the gang, Ramil Madriaga, and three other co-accused identified as Jaime Patano, 53; Ervyn Bernados, 32 and; Ronald Alivio, 44.
The suspects were the subject of a non-bailable warrant of arrest for two counts of kidnapping-for-ransom issued by Judge Alma Crispina Lacorte of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 21 last June 30.
The accused were wanted for their involvement in the kidnapping of two Filipino-Chinese nationals in Tondo, Manila and the killing of a PNP-AKG agent during an operation to get the kidnappers in Pililia, Rizal on June 14, 2022.
The arrest of Madriaga and his gang members were made as a result of a series of ‘intelligence-driven’ operations conducted by the PNP-AKG to account for wanted kidnappers and other criminals in the country.
“The Madriaga kidnap-for-ransom groups is one of the most dangerous criminal syndicates in recent history and had been under intense investigation for several months,” the PNP-AKG director said.
Castil said that the suspects were known for their brazen acts of violence and their involvement in a series of heinous crimes in Calabarzon and Metro Manila prior to their neutralization.
END OF THE LINE–Some of the high-powered weapons seized from three wanted kidnappers who were arrested in Pakil, Laguna Saturday morning.
