QCPD tags ‘Army captain’ in mall heist

QUEZON CITY, Philippines – The Quezon City Police District has charged three men in absentia—including an “Army reservist captain”—in connection with the daring jewelry store robbery pulled off by a so-called “martilyo gang” inside SM North Edsa mall on December 16 last year.

Complaints were filed in the city prosecutor’s office against Dulie Jui-Esmola, Romero Buluran and Dexter Balane, after two witnesses in the P1.4 million robbery recognized their faces when shown photos, according to QCPD director Chief Supt. Richard Albano.

The police are tracking down four more men who took part in the heist and whose images were captured on security cameras.

Chief Inspector Rodelio Marcelo, head of the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said his men got initial leads on the suspects’ identities through sources in the military intelligence network.

Further checks showed that Balane is a reservist officer who joined the military roster in 2002 as a second lieutenant, he said.

On the night of December 16, gang members posing as shoppers took assorted jewelry from two stalls at SM North’s main department store after breaking the glass display cases using a hammer and crowbar bought right inside the mall.

In the complaint, Balane was identified by a saleslady as the man in a black jacket who pretended to be a customer looking for a ring and a bracelet. He was later seen scooping fistfuls of jewelry after Jui-Esmola and Buluran smashed the glass cases.

“The witness was shocked and even burst into tears when she was shown the photograph (of Balane),” Marcelo said.