7-man crime gang falls in predawn QC raid

Seven suspected gang members believed to be hired guns and involved in drugs, robberies, car thefts and other criminal activities were arrested in a slum area in Quezon City on Thursday morning.

Armed with five search warrants, an 80-man team from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), the Kamuning police station and the Regional Public Safety Battalion raided the NPC Compound on BIR Road, Quezon City around 5:30 a.m.

After searching several houses, the police operatives caught two of the Bituin Gang members they were looking for—Dick Cheney Salunoy and Ibrahim Salindal —but not the group leader, Abdu Bayan Abdullah.

The police, however, found five other members of the group identified as Anjo Rosales, Efren Valerio, Pepe Rafael, Chrismar Calma and Onte Radzak.

Supt. Danilo Macerin of the CIDG Anti-Organized Crime Unit said that

Abdullah, Salunoy and Salindal who were the subjects of the search warrants were involved in robberies, car thefts and illegal drugs on top of being hired killers. He added that the Bituin Gang operated in Metro Manila.

“It is the first time for these seven men to be arrested. We are still checking if there are outstanding arrest warrants or cases filed against them,” he said.

Seized from the seven were four .45-cal. pistols, two .38-cal. revolvers, a .22-cal. revolver, a hand grenade, six .45-cal. magazines, assorted ammunition, several sachets of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” and a marijuana plant.

Last October, three other members of the group were arrested after the CIDG and other police units implemented 10 search warrants in Caloocan City, also resulting in the seizure of several guns, stolen motorcycles, shabu and P1.3 million in cash.