210 arrested for illegal gambling in July — PNP

The Philippine National Police arrested 210 persons engaged in illegal gambling activities, especially jueteng, in different parts of the country in July this year, according to PNP Chief Director General Leandro Mendoza.

In a report to Malacañang, Mendoza said that for the month of July, the PNP conducted a total of 165 operations against illegal gambling activities, resulting in the arrest of 210 persons and the confiscation of P28,271.00.

Most of those arrested were bet collectors and employees of gambling operators engaged in jueteng, Mendoza said.

Mendoza said that also in July, police recovered 46 stolen motor vehicles, representing a recovery rate of 44 percent as against the 103 reported carnapping cases during the month.

In anti-bank robbery operations, the PNP gained headway last month with the neutralization of the dreaded Martilyo Gang, Mendoza said.

He said that nine members of the gang were killed in an encounter with police intelligence agents on July 21 along Bonifacio Drive in Port Area, Manila.

According to PNP spokesman, Chief Superintendent Cresencio Maralit, the Martilyo Gang was responsible for a series of bank, pawnshop, and payroll robberies in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

On anti-smuggling, the PNP, in coordination with other concerned law enforcement agencies, seized last July 24 a shipment of 9,000 sacks of smuggled rice at the port of Iloilo City, Mendoza said.

On July 28, police also intercepted two 20-footer container vans at the North Harbor’s Pier 8 with a misdeclared shipment of used clothing.

On the same day in Davao City, a similar shipment contained in three 20-footer vans was intercepted at the Tadeco Wharf, Mendoza said.

Maralit said that a syndicate engaged in hijacking of commercial cargo in Southern Tagalog Region was busted last July 16 in Laguna.

According to Maralit, three members of the gang were arrested and millions of pesos worth of computer parts and components were seized from them.