2 Chinese nationals jailed for kidnapping in Lapu-Lapu
CEBU CITY –– Two Chinese nationals are behind bars for allegedly kidnapping their three compatriots in Lapu-Lapu City last February 26.
A Gui and Xiao Fan were arrested on Thursday dawn, March 5, eight days since they forcibly took the victims, said Colonel Dexter Rellora, chief of the Anti-Kidnapping Group in the Visayas (AKG-Visayas).
Charges of kidnapping were being prepared against the suspects.
Both the victims and the suspects worked at a Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGO) firm.
In a press conference on Thursday, Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas, said the Chinese consulate requested their assistance on Wednesday afternoon after three Chinese nationals were reportedly abducted.
Ferro said both the Lapu-Lapu City police and the AKG in the Visayas immediately launched an operation, which led to the arrest of the suspects.
Colonel Dexter Rellora, AKG-Visayas chief, said the families of the victims reported the incident to the Chinese consulate after the kidnappers asked for ransom money amounting to P1.2 million.
Based on their investigation, Rellora said the three victims were illegally detained in an apartment inside a subdivision in Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City since February 26.
“When we rescued the victims, they were handcuffed. One of them had hematoma in different parts of his body. It means he could have been possibly tortured,” Rellora said.
The operatives recovered a stun gun, three handcuffs, a bolo, several cellphones, and a laptop from the suspects.
Since the Chinese couldn’t speak English, Rellora said they had difficulty tracing the suspects’ background.
“We believe that there is another person or people behind this. It could be the mastermind,” he said.
General Ferro said they were looking into the possibility that the kidnapping was done by a syndicate.
He said they were investigating if the suspects were connected to the Chinese kidnappers in Manila.
