Puerto pawnshop rob suspects held

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—Authorities on Tuesday announced the separate arrests of at least 12 suspects that dug a tunnel in July leading to a pawnshop from where they took P11 million worth of pieces of jewelry, cash and foreign currency notes.

Col. Virgilio Parrocha, city police chief, said in a press conference that policemen arrested the suspects separately in parts of Baguio City and Ilocos Norte after one suspect arrested earlier gave the identities and whereabouts of his companions.

The group struck on July 11 at the Palawan Pawnshop by digging a tunnel from the city’s main sewer system to the pawnshop’s vault. The suspects used acetylene torches and digging tools, which prompted police here to raise suspicions that the same group was involved in similar heists in other places.

Randy Suelo, head of the city’s Special Operations Group, said the hunt for the suspects took law enforcers here to as far as Baguio City and Ilocos Norte.