NCRPO chief Deputy Director General Romeo Peña identified the suspects as Agripino Arevalo, 52, of Las Piñas City; Samson Tianchon, 49, of Sta. Mesa, Manila; Nelson Mallari, 49. of Muntinlupa City; Mario Jocsing Sr., of Multinational Village, Parañaque City; and Ernesto Arevalo, 56, an employee of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and a resident of Patnongon, Antique.
The arrests were made by the NCRPO-Regional Intelligence and Special Operations Office headed by Senior Inspector Tom Tuzon during an entrapment operation Thursday at the SM South Mall in Las Piñas.
The operation was triggered by a complaint filed by an American businessman who claimed that the suspects, led by Arevalo, approached him last May and offered to sell him five bars of the precious metal palladium. – Marvin Sy