Cops nab 8 illegal bet collectors in Quezon

LUCENA CITY, Quezon—Police on Thursday arrested eight men suspected of collecting bets for an illegal operation of the state-sanctioned Small Town Lottery (STL) in Tayabas City and Candelaria town in Quezon province, reports on Friday said.
Senior Supt. Rhoderick Armamento, provincial police director, said policemen in Tayabas City arrested seven suspects who were in the act of collecting bets for “bookies” or illegal operation of STL.
Armamento identified them as Eusebio del Rio, Joel Querubin, Carl Francis Albendo, Librado Luyahan, Gary Lacorte, Rommel Manatiga and Eliseo Oabel.
The eighth suspect, Ruel Valierta, was arrested in Candelaria town.
Seized from the suspects were an undetermined amount of cash and betting paraphernalia that the suspects said they would submit to Pirouette Gaming Corp., the licensed STL operator in Quezon.
But representatives of Pirouette here said the suspects were not authorized to collect bets for the firm’s operations. They said the suspects were engaged in underground STL operations.
Armamento said the police have waged an “all-out war” against illegal gambling, particularly illegal operations of STL.
He reiterated the police’s “one-strike policy,” where chiefs of police in 39 towns and two cities in the province may be relieved once an investigation or police operation confirms the existence of illegal gambling in their areas.
Police said bookies operators maintain unauthorized STL betting stations in remote areas to avoid detection.
Illegal operators no longer conduct draws but adopt the winning number combinations drawn by operators of the government-run STL./rga

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