6 Manila-based thieves nabbed in Quezon

LUCENA CITY — Six suspected Metro-Manila-based thieves were arrested after they stole half a million pesos in cash from a meat vendor in Candelaria town in Quezon province on Tuesday.

The Candelaria police reported that one of the suspects, Jennifer Santos, pretended to be a buyer of meat seller Allan Flordeliz at the public market in Barangay Pahinga Norte at 3:20 p.m.

While the victim was busy attending to Santos, the other four suspects — Christian Castro, Jessie Derder, Michael De Jesus, and Joshua Fernandez — ran away with the bag of the victim’s wife, which has an estimated P500,000 in cash inside.

A concerned citizen was able to immediately notify the police, who arrived in time and caught the five suspects.

However, the cash-filled bag was no longer in their possession and was reportedly taken by three other suspects identified as Tyrone Reyes and two women known only as “Mariel” and “Marriet, police said. The three remained at large.

But pursuing policemen eventually cornered the driver of the get-away vehicle, Pio Sabusap, along the Maharlika Highway in Candelaria.

The nine suspects were all residents of Metro Manila, the Candelaria police said.

The arrested suspects yielded a caliber 22 revolver with bullets, a fan knife, and three plastic sachets of shabu (crystal meth) of still undetermined quantity. They are now detained at the town police jail.

LZB