TMG busts hijack gang

Nineteen alleged members of the notorious "Dacoycoy" hijacking syndicate operating at the Port Area in Manila were arrested by a joint team of the Traffic Management Group and local police at the group’s safehouse in Navotas early yesterday.

PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., said the gang’s leader, Rolando Debutas alias "Dacoycoy," was arrested along with his cohorts identified as Rogelio Suvilla; Ramil Venancio; Danilo Antimaro; Roger Ballad; Ernesto Francisco; Juanito Canlas; Cristino Canlas; Mac Ardie Manila; Rogelio Tobias; Mario Valdez; Edward Magbutay; Edgardo Morada; Boylet Flores; Alvin Dizon; Edgar Beremerito; Reynaldo Raymundo; Robert Pascual and Wilfredo Cruz.

The police said the members of the Dacoycoy Gang were responsible for the hijacking of a 20-footer container van loaded with P600,000 worth of sugar products at the Port of Manila.

Ebdane said the arrest can be attributed to an agreement forged by the PNP with manufacturers, cargo handlers and consumer groups for the implementation of measures to prevent highway robberies and hijacking of commodities.

"Pursue without letup the operations against similar syndicates operating in other parts of the country, particularly those that victimize commercial goods and food commodities," Ebdane told his men after the successful operation.

Police said the van was forcibly taken from driver Renato Erne of Quicktrans Cargo Moving Inc. last Wednesday. Authorities immediately flashed an alarm to all mobile units, prompting them to set-up checkpoints to locate the truck.

A mobile team from the National Capital Region TMG Office spotted the truck while maneuvering inside a garage along North Bay Boulevard South in Navotas.

TMG director Chief Superintendent Danilo Mangila said a motorcycle was also seized by his men during the operation.

Mangila said that the TMG neutralized three members of the Dacoycoy Gang last Feb. 14 after they fought it out with lawmen. — With Jerry Botial