Cops: Muntinlupa thieves dug tunnel from manhole

Police said the group that broke into the Makati South Supermarket in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, on Monday morning may have used a manhole near the supermarket as the starting point for the tunnel they dug to get into the establishment.

“There is a construction site near the supermarket, and a manhole also near it,” Superintendent Federico Castro Jr., Southern Police District deputy director for operations, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “The suspects could have applied as construction workers and used the power tools to dig underground and break into the supermarket.”

The burglars—dubbed by the police as the “Acetylene Gang” because they use acetylene torches to pry open vaults—took a still undetermined amount of cash and four .38-cal. pistols from the supermarket’s vault.

“The suspects might have been aiming for a bank, which is also near the supermarket, the manhole and the construction site. However, they might have dug a hole to the supermarket instead,” Castro said.

He added that the police were still investigating the robbery, which was discovered just before the supermarket opened Monday morning.