LEGAZPI CITY –– One of the three men initially reported to be all police officers, who were arrested over a P2 million extortion attempt, was a security guard, the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Bicol clarified on Thursday.
Major Maria Luisa Calubaquib, Bicol police spokesperson, clarified in a telephone interview that suspect Jay Quides, 41, of Barangay Pantao of Libon town in Albay province, was a security guard and not a Police Staff Sergeant as initially reported in a police report.
Reports said Quides and his wife, Melody, posed as members of the Concepcion Crime Group and allegedly hatched the robbery extortion against lawyer Paulino Fernandez.
The husband-and-wife tandem and two police officers were caught in an entrapment operation by a joint national, regional, and provincial Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) team in Barangay Salugan in Legazpi City on Tuesday, Dec. 15.
The CIDG operatives caught the suspects receiving the entrapment money around 3 p.m. at a designated area along the Maharlika Highway in Barangay Salugan.
The arrested policemen––Staff Sergeants Ernan Mullasgo, and Gerald Capuz––both of the police station in Camalig town in Albay, have issued a statement denying involvement in the robbery extortion, Calubaquib said.