Ozamiz gang leaders not involved in Chinese convicts’ ‘rescue’—CIDG official

NBI investigation on killed Ozamiz gang leader. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Identified Ozamiz Group leaders who were recently killed in a shooting incident in Laguna weren’t really the ones involved in the alleged rescue of Chinese drug convicts in February this year, a Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Anti Organized Crime Division official said Wednesday.

“It wasn’t [Ricky] Cadavero. It wasn’t [Wilfredo] Panogalinga . . . Li Lan Yan a.k.a Jackson Dy doesn’t have any connection with them,” said Senior Superintendent Jose Mario Espino of CIDG-AOCD.

Espino led the team of police officers who rearrested Dy and his wife Wang Li Na inside their rented home in San Juan City recently.

He said those involved in their alleged escape on February 20 this year were Ariel “Bokbok” Bundaon and one alias “Noknok.”

Bundaon was arrested on March 16 this year in Baguio, while Noknok remains at large.

Earlier reports said Ozamiz leaders Cadavero and Panogalinga were involved in the supposed rescue of Li Lan Yan and Wang Li Na, along with Li Tian Hua on February 20 while they were on their way to attend a court hearing for another drug case in Trece Martires in Cavite.

“Cadavero and Panogalinga are also Ozamiz leaders, but in the robbery branch,” he said, noting that Ozamiz has different branches led by different leaders.

He said Li Lan Yan and Bundaon once stayed together in Camp Bagong Diwa. Li Lan Yan allegedly financed the P130,000 bail fee of Bundaon.

The three Chinese drug convicts were released just some 10 days after getting into a transaction with Noknok’s group.

“Itong Ozamiz group ay hindi lang involved sa bank robbery, involved din sila sa kidnapping, gun-for-hire. At ito ang bago nila, involved din sila sa pagpapatakas ng mayaman na bilango. So dapat batanyan na natin lahat ng high-risk at high-profile inmates, at may group na very bold na kaya umagaw ng mga inmates (Ozamiz group are not just involved in bank robbery. It is also involved in kidnapping, gun-for-hire, and at snatching big-time inmates. So we really have to guard all high-profile inmates [because] there is a group that can snatch them),” he said.