Cops arrest 8 for kidnap
A POLICE investigator’s instincts on top of his knack for ferreting out the truth resulted in the arrest of the mastermind in the kidnapping of a Malaysian trader.
Marlon Lopera, 31, and his cohorts were arrested in follow-up operations conducted by the Manila police from Monday night until Tuesday morning.
The others were identified as Joanna Turla, 20, the kidnap victim’s live-in partner; Edel Macalinao, 36, the victim’s secretary; Francis Turla, 27; Felizardo Gutierrez, 44; Rolando Manuzon Jr., 29; Bernardo Manuzon, 36; and a 17-year-old boy.
Only P4.2M recovered
Recovered from the group was P4.2 million out of the P16 million ransom that had been paid for the release of kidnap victim Eric Sim Chin Tong, a Malaysian businessman.
Tong told the police that several men abducted him from his warehouse in Malabon City at around 4 p.m. on March 6.
According to him, his captors contacted Joanna, his live-in partner, and told her that they wanted P16 million for his release.
He added that afterward, he was ordered to talk to a bank official on the phone and to inform the official that he had authorized his secretary, Macalinao, to withdraw P16 million from his account.
Tong said that after the ransom was paid, his captors released him the following day, March 7.
He went at once to the Manila Police District (MPD) Station 5 which immediately started conducting an investigation.
The speed at which the transaction was conducted, meanwhile, caught the attention of Senior Insp. Peter Nerviza who had been assigned to look into the case.
“I was suspicious at how fast the payoff was completed. [I was also] told that it was Joanna who negotiated for the victim’s release,” Nerviza told reporters.
He added that another thing which struck him as odd was Joanna’s admission that she did not haggle with Tong’s captors to lower the ransom demand.
Nerviza said that he kept on questioning Joanna about these things until she finally let it slip that she had helped plan the kidnapping.
Mastermind identified
She later identified Lopera, whom she said was her former boyfriend, as the mastermind. She also told the police where they could find him.
Based on the information, members of the MPD Station 5 went to the Riviera Mansion on Mabini Street where Lopera was hiding.
He was arrested, along with the 17-year-old boy. Recovered from him was more than P4 million in cash hidden in a traveling bag and a 9 mm pistol.
Upon questioning, he told the police that Macalinao and Francis Turla also took part in the kidnapping. He also identified the other members of the group.
MPD Station 5 commander, Supt. Felipe Cazon Jr. said he then coordinated with the police in San Miguel, Bulacan, for the arrest of Rolando and Bernardo Manuzon in Barangay Sibul Spring.
Police investigators said they were still tracking down the rest of the ransom money.
Lopera and his cohorts remain detained at the MPD Station 5 pending the filing of a kidnapping for ransom charge against them with the City Prosecutor’s Office.
