Cops nab 6 ‘jueteng’ bet collectors in Central Luzon

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga – Six alleged bet collectors of jueteng, an illegal numbers game, were arrested in Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, and Pampanga on Sunday, police said.

Four of the suspects were nabbed in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija, another suspect was caught in San Ildefonso town in Bulacan, while another suspect was arrested in Mexico town in Pampanga. Two of the suspects are women.

The Central Luzon Police Regional Office reported confiscating P4,283.25 in cash bets and papelitos (bet sheets) from the suspects.

Last week, the Pampanga police reported killing an armed man protecting five alleged jueteng collectors of a Bulacan-based gambling group that had reportedly penetrated Candaba town in Pampanga.

On Sept. 5, police arrested two bet collectors in the Pampanga town of Masantol.

Jueteng operations have continued despite an Aug. 25 declaration made by Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Chairman Jose Jorge Corpuz that the agency’s Small Town Lottery had stamped out jueteng in Pampanga.

Chief Supt. Amador Corpus, chief of the Central Luzon Police Regional Office, has yet to give an assessment of jueteng operations in the seven provinces of Central Luzon.

STL test runs were started in Pampanga by Suncove Corp. in 2006. /atm