‘Gaga Gang’ leader behind Metro heists, KFRs nabbed in Lucena

MANILA, Philippines—The police on Wednesday arrested a suspicious looking man inside a convenience store in Lucena City who turned out to be the alleged leader of the notorious “Gaga Gang,” a group being linked to several robberies, car thefts, and kidnap-for-ransom cases in the National Capital Region.

Supt. Allen Rae Co, the Lucena police chief, said Resty Branzuela was captured after concerned citizens alerted authorities to the presence of a man who was just hanging out “doing nothing” at a 24-hour store in Barangay Domoit at the outskirts of the city from 2 a.m. to noon.

Branzuela did not resist arrest when the arresting team arrived but he tried to hide his identity by presenting a driver’s license with the name “Joseph Carbonel,” Co said.

Branzuela was alone when he arrived at the store in a Hyundai Accent hatchback (WCO 859). An initial check showed that the vehicle was not on the police list of stolen vehicles, but Co said further verification would be made to establish its ownership.

The suspect eventually revealed his true identity during interrogation and claimed that he was fearing for his safety, the official said. “He asked that we protect him. He feared that he was being followed.”

Branzuela claimed that he was being tailed by another vehicle, which he suspected to be either that of a rival gang or relatives of past victims who wanted to get back at him.

He was later found to be No. 4 on the list of most wanted criminals in the NCR and No. 3 on the list of kidnappers wanted by the Philippine National Police-Anti-Kidnapping Group.

The police said Branzuela had been in hiding since July 2013 following the arrest of five of his gang members for two robberies in Quezon City.