SAN PEDRO CITY — In a case that could unlock the modus operandi of corrupt policemen using the war on drugs for extortion, five policemen in Laguna province were charged with grave misconduct after they allegedly demanded money from a couple in exchange for sparing the couple’s lives in an antidrug operation under “Oplan Tokhang.”
Senior Supt. Simnar Gran said the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) regional police office on Monday approved the filing of administrative cases against the five policemen—PO2 John Alicbusan, PO1 Glecerio Cruzen, PO1 Clayson Benabese, PO3 Troyluss Ambrocius Yideso and PO3 Warren Ryan Carpena.
“We are now taking their statements and they would be given a chance to defend themselves,” said Gran, head of the Calabarzon police’s Investigation and Detective Management Division (IDMD) in a phone interview.
Detained
The five officers, formerly assigned to Sta. Rosa City in Laguna, had been detained at the Calabarzon police headquarters in Camp Vicente Lim in Calamba City since Friday.
Supt. Jesson Bombasi, head of the Laguna police’s IDMD, said the officers were immediately “disarmed” and arrested after the couple, Rommel dela Cruz and his wife, Cristy, filed the complaint.
The Dela Cruz couple last week filed a case of kidnapping at the Office of the Ombudsman against the officers after they were accosted by the lawmen on Aug. 4 at a mall in Sta. Rosa City.
The couple said in their complaint that the policemen held them at gunpoint, accusing them of involvement in drugs. They were taken to a slaughterhouse where the policemen seized the victims’ valuables.
The policemen allegedly threatened to kill the couple in a mock police antidrug operation if they failed to pay P1 million. The couple was released hours later after Cristy managed to pay P215,000 and promised to pay the rest of the amount in their next meeting.
Positive ID
The couple reported the kidnapping to the Laguna police headquarters on Aug. 7, and identified the policemen after being shown photographs of Laguna policemen.
“They were denying it, of course,” said Bombasi. “But then, again, they had been identified from the photos,” he said.
Last year, South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo was also kidnapped and killed allegedly by antinarcotics policemen, who demanded ransom from the victim’s family.