Foiled Bulacan payoff: 3 cops, 3 others nabbed for kidnap

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga — Six suspected kidnappers, including three policemen, were arrested last Saturday while receiving the ransom for a resident of Marilao, Bulacan they had seized supposedly for possession of illegal drugs.

A report reaching the office of Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan, Central Luzon police director, identified the suspects as PO2 Armando Pacheco, 31, assigned to the National Capital Region Police Office at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City; PO1 Ernesto Garcia, 27, and PO1 Anthony Cubos, 27, both members of the Meycauayan police; Renato Pacheco, 26; Reynaldo del Rosario, 24; and Aristotle Reyes, 24.

The victim, Garry Nuñez, was seized from his home in Barangay Lias, Marilao town and dragged into a vehicle, the report said.

A few hours later, Marilou Tesoro, Nuñez’s supposed live-in partner, received a text message from the kidnappers who identified themselves as members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), informing her that he was apprehended for possessing prohibited drugs.

Nuñez’s kidnappers demanded P100,000 in exchange for his liberty, the report said.

Tesoro reported the incident to the Marilao police which, together with PDEA agents, promptly laid out an entrapment operation.

Tesoro, according to the report, was instructed to maintain contact with the kidnappers, and after several text messages, both parties agreed to the payoff at the Meycauayan toll gate in Barangay Malhacan.

Moments later, a motorcycle-riding man took the bag containing the money but policemen quickly collared him.

Three other suspects, who were on board a parked Nissan Frontier, were also arrested, the report said.

After the foiled payoff, the joint police-PDEA team raided a house in Barangay Bagumbong, Caloocan City where Nuñez was being held by the two other suspects.

The raiding team found Nunez handcuffed and blindfolded.

Seized from the suspects were a M-16 rifle, a Baretta 9-mm pistol, a caliber .45 pistol, a Yamaha motorcycle, and a Nissan Frontier.

Rafanan said the six suspects are now detained at the Marilao jail while charges are being readied against them.