QC antidrug cop busted in P100K extortion try

A Quezon City policeman was arrested by his colleagues Friday night after he allegedly tried to extort P100,000 from the family of a tricycle driver whom he had tagged as a drug suspect.

PO1 Michael Gragasin, now relieved of his post as an antidrug operative under the Quezon City Police District’s (QCPD) Masambong station, faces charges for robbery-extortion.

Senior Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, the QCPD director, expressed disappointment over Gragasin’s case as it came in the wake of Masambong station’s latest accomplishment: the arrest of two suspects in the Aug. 8 robbery and shooting of a son of ABS-CBN journalist Quinnie Casimiro.

According to a complaint by Josephine Pineda, Gragasin asked for money after arresting her husband Adrian on Monday for alleged involvement in illegal drugs.

Pineda said Gragasin initially demanded P500,000 in exchange for the release of Adrian, a tricycle driver, but later reduced the amount to P100,000.

Gragasin ordered Pineda to proceed to the Masambong station and leave the cash in a hut within the compound. Not knowing that he was falling into a trap, the officer later arrived to pick up the money and was arrested.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Eleazar said an investigation was underway to check if Gragasin had accomplices among his peers. In his view, he said, bad eggs in the service rarely work alone.

He said he found Gragasin’s brazenness appalling. “We will look into this case as it means that he and his accomplices have been at it for a while.”

Gragasin joined the force six years ago. He was assigned to the QCPD La Loma station in 2012 and transferred to Masambong in February this year.

Eleazar encouraged other extortion victims to report more erring policemen./rga