3 hired guns nabbed in Laguna buy-bust

SAN PEDRO CITY – Three suspected contract killers were arrested in an anti-drug operation in San Pablo City, Laguna province on Tuesday.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, Calabarzon police director, named the suspects as Rodolfo Viterbo, 31; Christopher Peñaflor, 40; and Ferdinand Lapuz, 37; all residents of San Pablo City.

The three were also included in the police’s watch list for illegal drugs.

Eleazar said the suspects were arrested in a buy-bust operation around 5:30 p.m. in Barangay 1-C.

Recovered from the suspects were eight sachets of suspected shabu, two .45 caliber guns, and a hand grenade.

Eleazar said that based on intelligence reports, the three were behind the series of killings in the city, among them the shooting of vendor Peter Brinas on December 15, 2017 and of Rosano Gamit on March 3.

He said the recovered firearms would undergo further tests to see whether the suspects were also involved in other crimes in the city. MARICAR CINCO