Ozamis gang man names cohorts

MANILA, Philippines - A member of the Ozamis robbery gang has named at least 22 of his fellow members and their roles in at least 16 heists this year.

Based on a report obtained by The STAR, Ramil Espera gave the police a picture of how the gang worked, including details like who are tasked to lob the grenades and those assigned to fire the shots.

Espera revealed that the gang raked in at least P22 million from their “hits” this year alone.

The gang’s leader, Ricky Cadavero, and his partner, Wesley Adelan alias Fe Tolentino, were arrested on Oct. 12 at a hideout in Cavite. Espera, said to be the gang’s driver, was arrested in another operation. Cadavero has been convicted of two counts of robbery and two counts of frustrated murder.

These followed the arrests of Carlo Sanchez, Reymar Paran alias Michael Dompor, Roger Gallego, Riza Singson and Angelie Antonio on Oct. 1 at a “safehouse” in Cubao.

Apart from those arrested, one of the names that also surfaced from Espera’s revelations was that of an alias Toto, who is said to be the recruiter of new members of the gang.

Other names mentioned by Espera were those of alias Budha, Kalag, Meo, Buluntoy, Toto, Gerry, Anong, Timmy or Timoy, Butchoy, Loloy, Arnel, Alfred, Dangdang, Butchoy, Kulot, Burlitoy and Gido.

“The names matched with footage taken from these robbery hits,” a source told The STAR, showing the actual “screen grabs” of specific members’ images from some of the CCTV footage during the heists.

Hit list

One of their bigger hits was the robbery at Robinsons Galleria in April, where the group took P14 million at a moneychanger shop. Espero took home P150,000 as his share of the loot.

Espera said the players included him, Cadavero, Adelan, Randy, Gerry, Alfred, Budha, Dangdang and Butchoy. Butchoy and Dangdang lobbed the grenade.  

Two other suspects, Willy Enriquez and Irenio de la Cruz, were arrested by the police in Iloilo after being tagged in the robbery.

At the robbery at a 7-11 convenience store in Manila in September, there were 11 participants involved, Espera said. A Honda CRV, a Toyota Innova and three motorcycles were also used. In the same robbery, American Robert Armstrong was shot dead, allegedly by Kulot.

In the robbery at Alabang Town Center in September, some P7 million were taken, with Espero getting P100,000. The other participants here were Cadavero, Adelan, Paran (who was tagged as a “starter”), Budha, Kalag, Meo, Buluntoy, Toto, Sanchez, Gerry and Anong. It was Budha who supposedly lobbed the grenade here.

This appeared to be a more complicated operation with at least six vehicles being used: a CRV manned by Cadavero and Adelan; an Innova that carried Espero and Anong; and four motorcycles driven by Gerry, Toto, Sanchez and Budha.

Another robbery at Alabang Town Center in February was allegedly perpetrated by Cadavero, Adelan, Espero, Gerry, Anong, Timmy, Butchoy, Loloy, Arnel and Alfred.

Back in June, the Robinsons East mall in Pasig was targeted by the gang, who took away P550,000. Espero took home P10,000 as his share of the loot.

The players here were Cadavero, Adelan, Espera, Gerry, Alfred, Budha, Paran, Butchoy and Dangdang. Butchoy, Budha, Paran and Alfred fired the shots here while Budha was also the one who lobbed the grenade.