Kidnap suspect with P250,000 bounty falls

The Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response (Pacer) has caught up with one of the country’s most wanted kidnappers believed responsible for at least three kidnap-for-ransom cases in Metro Manila in 2009.

Pacer identified the wanted man as Reil Maltos alias “Yekyek,” a member of the notorious Bello group that kidnapped two Filipino students at an international school in Taguig City in March 2009.

The gang was also responsible for abducting a Chinese-Filipino businesswoman in October 2009 and a Chinese-Filipino banker in February 2009, both in Quezon City.

Maltos, who had a P250,000 bounty on his head, was arrested by Pacer agents on the strength of a warrant issued by Judge Leili Suarez of the Taguig City Regional Trial Court Branch 163, Senior Supt. Isagani Nerez, Pacer chief, said in a statement.

A post-operation report by the Pacer showed that Maltos had been tracked down to his hideout in Barangay Muzon, San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan following an anonymous tip from a concerned citizen who called up the Pacer hotline.

“It took several months for Pacer operatives to develop [this] information, but in the end, Pacer was able to pinpoint his exact residence,” the agency said, adding that Maltos was undergoing tactical interrogation at its headquarters.