Police: Torch gang still here in Cebu City

CEBU City police said the so-called “acetylene cutter” gang that tried to rob a pawnshop in barangay Lahug last Sunday are still around looking for their next target.

Chief Insp. Bonifacio Garcianio, chief of the Cebu City police’s Investigation and Detective Management Branch (IDMB) advised banks, pawnshops and money changer outlets to beef up their security.

Garciano said the group may belong to the same group of suspects from Benguet province that they arrested in 2010.

Chief Insp. Romeo Santander of the city’s City Intelligence Branch (CIB) said security cameras should be set up to avoid robberies.

Mark Yu, one of the representatives of the Gemmary Pawnshop in Lahug, said the burglars didn’t anticipate the double vault they set up to protect the cash and jewelry of their clients.

Last Sunday, police found a three-foot-wide hole from the corner of the pawnshop’s office made by the robbers.

The hole led to a five-foot-deep tunnel that originated from the home of one of the nearby residents.

A certain Johnny Lo, who claimed to be a resident of Toledo City, was identified by Cebu City police as the robbery gang leader. Correspondent Chito Aragon