3 cops, wife of one of the policemen nabbed for P2-M extortion try in Albay

LEGAZPI CITY –– Three policemen and the wife of one of the officers were taken into custody after being caught extorting P2 million from a businessman in Albay province, a police report said on Thursday, Dec. 17.

Arrested were Police Staff Sergeants Jay Quides, Ernan Mullasgo, and Gerald Capuz, all members of the police station in Camalig town; and Melody, the wife of Quides, the report said.

The suspects were caught during an entrapment operation by a joint national, regional, and provincial Criminal Investigation and Detection Group team led by Police Colonel Bayani Razalan, CIDG Bicol chief, in Barangay Salugan, in this City, on Tuesday, Dec. 15, the report added.

The CIDG operatives caught the suspects receiving the entrapment money around 3 p.m. at the designated area along the Maharlika Highway in Barangay Salugan.

The operation was conducted after a “Mr. Fernandez” sought police assistance and reported that two of the suspects introduced themselves as members of the notorious Concepcion Crime Gang and demanded P2 million and threatened to abduct the businessman’s father if he failed to give in to the demand.

The CDIG found that the suspects were carrying two 9-mm pistols, 59 bullets for a 9-mm handgun, four magazines, their police identification cards, and five mobile phones.

A source said Capuz, who was caught in full police uniform, had claimed that he was in the area as he was supposed to provide route security for Brigadier General Bustamante, the regional police director.

Mullasgo, a cousin of Quides, claimed he was requested by his cousin to provide security, as Quides would be receiving a large amount of money, the source said.

LZB