5 armed illegal bet collectors in Quezon nabbed

A bet collector for Small Town Lottery reviews her records at a remittance center in Lucena City. DELFIN T. MALLARI JR.

LUCENA CITY – Police on Saturday arrested five armed men suspected of collecting bets for an illegal operation of the government-run Small Town Lottery (STL) in two separate operations in this city, police said.

Senior Supt. Rhoderick Armamento, Quezon police provincial director, said the two groups of collectors of STL “bookies” were carrying firearms when police swooped down on illegal gambling dens in Barangay 5 and Barangay 8 on Saturday afternoon and shortly before midnight.

Arrested were Franklin Obciana, Joey Panisa, Alvin Alcala, Gaudencio Malarasta and Virgilio Balmaceda.

“The ‘bookies’ operators are ready to make a last stand to protect their illegal gambling business. But they were surprised by my men so they just surrendered,” Armamento told the Inquirer.

The authorities confiscated one unlicensed caliber .45 Colt pistol with seven bullets and an extra magazine with five bullets in the Barangay 5 gambling den and one unlicensed.9mm Beretta pistol with 13 bullets in Barangay 8.

Police said the suspects were caught while revising and sorting STL bets. The lawmen seized more than P10,000 cash and assorted illegal gambling paraphernalia that the suspects said they would submit to Pirouette Gaming Corp., the licensed STL operator in Quezon.

But the suspects failed to produce legitimate identification cards issued by the STL gaming company. The company representatives also denied that the suspects were their employees, police said.

The Quezon police have waged an “all-out war” against illegal gambling, particularly illegal operations of STL.

“We’ve already made significant progress in central Quezon with the arrest of major bookies operators. The campaigns in other districts are also producing results to eradicate illegal gambling,” Armamento said. He said police teams were scouring even secluded areas to stop
bookies operations.

“Most of our information came from concerned citizens. Just like in our war on drugs, the people are helping in our battle against illegal gambling,” Armamento said. CBB/rga