Bank security execs laud arrest of rob gang leader

Based on the confession made by one of the confessed members of the Ozamis robbery group, a bank official is convinced that the gang was behind a series of heists that targeted banks, armored vans, pawnshops and other establishments in Metro Manila and nearby areas.

“We have no doubt that this group was behind the recent robberies in Metro Manila, particularly in Alabang Town Center in Muntinlupa and the two robberies in Robinsons malls,” Feliciano Angue, vice president for security of UnionBank and director of the Bank Security Management Association, told the Inquirer on Monday.

The association is composed of 47 security officers from various banks and pawnshops nationwide who, according to him, have expressed alarm over the recent spate of armed robberies.

He said the information given to the police by Ramel “Junjun” Espera, the 24-year-old mechanic who was arrested and who, during questioning, confessed to being a member of the robbery gang, seemed credible and could be used in pursuing the cases filed against his cohorts.

The arrest of Ricky Cadavero, the alleged leader of the Ozamis robbery group, in a safe house in Noveleta, Cavite, last week was a major setback to the robbers’ operations, Angue said.

According to Chief Superintendent Benito Estipona, Southern Police District director, the arrest of Cadavero, who was recently convicted in four separate robbery cases and sentenced to a total of 67 years in prison, was the result of good intelligence and investigative work.

Espera had confessed that he was in charge of driving the getaway vehicles for the group. He also told the police how they planned the heists and their escape plans.

He said he was bothered by his conscience when two members of the group died in a shootout with security guards at Alabang Town Center on September 14 after they took a duffel bag containing P7 million from an armored van.

The money from UnionBank was supposed to be delivered to a foreign exchange shop in the mall when the group struck.

“I don’t want this kind of life. I want to live. I really want to tip them off to the police,” Espera said, referring to the group members.