The alleged counterfeit bills and fake gold bars seized from the suspects. . (CIDG Misamis Oriental Provincial Field Unit handout photo)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Region 10 (CIDG-10) have arrested five individuals suspected of selling counterfeit gold bars and banknotes on two separate operations, the agency said.
A team from the CIDG-10’s Misamis Oriental and Camiguin provincial field units arrested Eglesiro Quijano, 61, a native of Zamboanga del Sur but is presently residing at Barangay Patpat, Malitbog town, Bukidnon.
Joining the CIDG-10 team were officers from the Opol municipal police station and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Payments and Currency Investigation Group representatives.
Quijano, also known as “Datu” and “Doc,” is said to be the leader of the “Doc Crime Group” which members were apprehended during entrapment operations on September 1 and September 4.
The group is alleged to be engaged in the manufacturing, trading, and distribution of counterfeit money and fake gold bars.
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Also arrested by the CIDG-10 operatives were Aurelio Adanza, 54, from Surigao City; Pablo Rayon, 41, from Patpat, Malitbog; and Alfredo Allego, 64, a resident of Purok 8, Barangay Poblacion, Claveria town, Misamis Oriental.
The four suspects were arrested after trying to sell counterfeit gold bars to the CIDG-10 agents at Barangay Poblacion, Villanuega town, Misamis Oriental on September 1.
Confiscated from the suspects were fake gold bars of different weights and sizes, P1,000 buy-bust money, two motorcycles, 50 pieces of counterfeit P1,000 bills, 40 pieces of counterfeit P500 bills, and two cellular phones.
CIDG-10 operatives check the alleged counterfeit bills and fake gold bars seized from the suspects during an entrapment operation in Villanueva town, Misamis Oriental, on September 1, 2022. A follow-up operation was conducted on September 4, 2022. (CIDG Misamis Oriental Provincial Field Unit handout photo)
A follow-up operation on September 4 resulted in the arrest of Aguileo Cabeltes, 72, alias “Loloy,” at Upper Carmen, this city.
Seized from Cabeltes were two genuine P1,000 bills, 230 fake P1,000 bills, 40 pieces of counterfeit P500 bills, and a cellular phone.
According to Capt. Noel Oclarit, the CIDG-10 arresting team leader, the entrapment operations stemmed from tips from informants who told authorities of the manufacturing of fake gold bars and counterfeit money that are rampant in Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, and Cagayan de Oro.
He said the CIDG-10 had surveilled Quijano’s group for weeks before launching the operations.
“This is two months in the making,” Oclarit added.
The counterfeit currencies, he said, were used in buying items at small sari-sari stores and street vendors, especially during the night and in making bets at cockfights.
“At cockfights, the bettors don’t usually notice the fake money. It’s being circulated as payment for bets,” Oclarit said.
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Aside from that, the suspects were also known to sell fake bank notes to politicians, especially during the election campaign period.
Lt. Col. Sandro Santillan, the provincial officer of the CIDG field units in Misamis Oriental and Camiguin, said cases for the crime of estafa and Revised Penal Code Article 168 in relation to Article 166 (law punishing illegal possession and use of false treasury or bank notes and other instruments of credit) are being prepared against the arrested individuals.
“We would like to assure the public through our intensive operations involving the manufacture and trade of counterfeit money and fake gold that individuals engaging in said activities shall be held accountable and will bear the long arm of the law,” said Brig. Gen. Ronald Lee, the CIDG director, in a statement.