Cops rescue girl from suspected baby snatcher in Malabon

Police have rescued unharmed a one-year-old girl snatched in Malabon City last Wednesday by a suspected member of a syndicate preying on young children during an operation in Tondo a few hours after her abduction.

The operation also resulted in the arrest of the suspect, Grace Morales, 32, a resident of a squatters’ area in Vitas, Tondo.

Superintendent Moises Guevarra, the Malabon City police chief, said the suspect has a pending warrant of arrest for a kidnapping case before the sala of Judge Emmanuel Laurea of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 169.

At around 9 a.m., Morales dropped by the house of Jessica Pascual, 22, mother of the victim, in Barangay Hulong Duhat in Malabon City.

Morales befriended the unsuspecting mother.

Pascual later excused herself as she had to go to the bathroom. She asked Morales to look after her daughter.

When she returned, Morales and her baby girl were gone.

She immediately sought police assistance.

Inspector Jeorge Tabayag, Malabon police chief investigator, said a team, led by Senior Inspector Antonio Ablaza, along with Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team (BPAT) operatives, was formed to track down the suspect.

"Our informants were able to establish the identity of the suspect and our operatives tracked her down in Tondo," Tabayag said.

Ablaza’s team, in cooperation with Barangay 105 chairman Luisito Reyes swooped down on the suspect’s house in the area, resulting in the rescue of the victim and the suspects’ apprehension.

Police are now digging deeper into the suspect’s background after they gathered that Morales was connected to a syndicate engaged in the abduction of children, who are sold to childless couples.

"Morales is said to be a member of a syndicate and we have at least two documented incidents on that. She has a pending warrant of arrest for kidnapping," Tabayag said.

Interviewed in her cell, Morales denied abducting the girl.

"The girl’s mother is my best friend. She entrusted me with her daughter," she said.