Eight more Metro Manila policemen were arrested on Thursday, just hours after entrapment operations led to the apprehension of two alleged scalawag lawmen.
Operatives of the National Capital Region Police Office’s (NCRPO) Regional Special Operations Unit served warrants of arrest on seven Las Piñas policemen charged with kidnapping a drug suspect whom they arrested in November in Silang, Cavite province.
The warrants were issued by Judge Jose Lorenzo dela Rosa of the Tagaytay City Regional Trial Court’s Branch 134.
The seven policemen, identified as Police Staff Sergeant Joel Lupig, Police Corporals Vener Guanlao and Jason Arellano, Police Patrolmen Mark Jefferson Fulgencio, Jeffrey de Leon, Raymart Gomez and Erickson Rivera had been in the custody of the NCRPO’s Regional Headquarters Support Unit following their surrender. They were members of the Las Piñas police’s anti-narcotics unit.
The seven had arrested Cyrus Lugutan for allegedly selling marijuana but there were no records of their operation or his arrest. They later contacted Lugutan’s sister and demanded P200,000 for his release.
A follow-up operation led to the rescue of Lugutan and the arrest of a 13-year-old boy who was being used by the suspects as a courier.
NCRPO operatives also arrested for estafa Police Staff Sergeant Rafael Muchuelas, based on the order of Judge Eugenio dela Cruz of the Pasay Regional Trial Court Branch 117.
Muchuelas, who was last assigned at the NCRPO-Regional Mobile Force Battalion before he was placed under restrictive custody in February, was wanted for embezzling hundreds of millions of pesos entrusted to him by his fellow police officers.
Investigation showed that Muchuelas had asked his victims to invest in his self-named Muchuelas Group of Companies with a guaranteed monthly return of 10 percent. But a check with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that his company did not exist.