Three members of the notorious Ampang Colangco robbery syndicate who figured in a daring heist at the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Commonwealth branch in Quezon City last month have been captured by the police.
Operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and Quezon City Police District (QCPD) arrested the three men at about 2 p.m. on Tuesday at the corner of Morato Avenue and Scout Fernandez Street in Quezon City, police officials said.
They were identified as Armando Guno alias Allan, 35, and Joel Roellano, 39, both residents of Bagong Silang, Caloocan City; and Gary Padilla, 32, of Camarin, Caloocan City.
CIDG Director Samuel D. Pagdilao Jr. said that upon questioning, Guno admitted his group’s participation in a series of robberies in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
Before their arrest, the three men were planning to rob an unidentified Banco de Oro depositor on Morato Avenue who at that time was set to withdraw a “huge amount of money” from the bank, the police said.
Seized from them were two MK IV cal. .45 pistols, a Smith and Wesson .38 cal. revolver, a fragmentation grenade, a silencer for a cal. .45 pistol, a Suzuki motorcycle (4292 ND) owned by Guno and a beige Toyota Vios (ZMR 635) registered to Dolores Cruz Quizon.
Senior Supt. Joel Napoleon Coronel, chief of the National Capital Region Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (NCRCIDU) which spearheaded the operation, said that Guno admitted that he knew Ricky Cadavero and that they had worked together in previous robberies, including the BPI heist. The Cadavero group is included in a CIDG watch list of organized crime groups.
Guno also told the CIDG that his group, which has links with the dreaded Waray-Waray, Ozamis and Solid robbery gangs, was involved in the robbery of a gas station in Mandaluyong City in October 2010, a Bayad-Center branch in Paliparan, Dasmariñas, Cavite, a Western Union branch in Cavite City, LBC branches in Las Piñas and Baclaran and several heists in Barangay Tungko, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.