2 Malabon heist suspects part of ‘high-profile’ crime group

Two of four rob suspects killed in a reported shootout with Northern Police District (NPD) police officers in Malabon City before dawn Friday were alleged members of a “high-profile” crime group listed in the Philippine National Police’s order of battle.

“Richard Buquid and Jimmy Sabrida were key players of a well-entrenched and high-profile crime group involved in major crimes recently committed here in the metropolis,” Senior Superintendent Rafael Santiago Jr., chief of the Northern Police District-District Investigation and Detective Management Division, told The STAR.

Santiago declined to divulge the group’s identity because of an ongoing operation, but said it has around 15 members armed with heavy weapons and was involved in a recent P15-million robbery in Quezon City and a P10-million heist in northern Metro Manila.

“Both of them (Buquid and Sabrida) are in our OB (order of battle) and their group has a large network whose members mostly came from Bicol and the Visayas,” Santiago said.

At around 2:50 a.m. Friday, Santiago’s men allegedly engaged the four suspects, who were in a hijacked GCF taxi (PXH-466), in a shootout on Araneta Avenue in Barangay Potrero, Malabon City.

The encounter resulted in the death of Buquid, Sabrida, Ricky Lozada and another male suspect who remained unidentified.

The police recovered an Armalite rifle, two .45 caliber pistols, and a .38 caliber revolver from the slain suspects.

The cops also recovered three cartons of Smart pre-paid cards worth P4 million from the trunk of the suspects’ get-away vehicle.

The suspects were supposed to sell the cards to a Navotas businessman who, suspecting that the items may be stolen, reported them to the NPD.

NPD director Chief Superintendent Pedro Tango ordered an entrapment operation, which led to an encounter resulting in the death of the armed men.

Chief Inspector Arturo Paras, NPD-DIDMD deputy chief, confirmed yesterday that the recovered Smart cards from the slain suspects were stolen in Manila last week.

“A total of 27,595 pieces of Smart pre-paid cards worth P5.865 million were reported stolen in Manila last July 17,” he said.

Erwin Milan, supervisor of Speedex International, the official carrier of Smart Communications Inc., accompanied by SPO1 Genaro Tan of the Manila Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, went to the NPD Friday to verify the recovered items.

According to Milan, the cards were stolen from their delivery van undetected.

“We could not yet release the cards pending our investigation but Milan (said) these could still be of use for they could still be reactivated,” Paras said.