INQUIRER FILES
MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga 鈥� Three men wearing shirts with National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) logos, along with a former crime group leader, were arrested Saturday in a police sting operation in San Agustin village, Concepcion, Tarlac.
In a statement on Monday, the Police Regional Office 3 (PRO3) said officers conducted a buy-bust operation targeting a suspect known as alias 鈥淩omnick,鈥� 35, identified as a former leader of a criminal gang, who sold a firearm to an undercover operative.
鈥淚nvestigators confirmed that 鈥楻omnick鈥� was previously the leader of the Pascual Criminal Group, which was involved in illegal drugs, motorcycle theft, cigarette smuggling, and a string of robbery-holdup across Tarlac, often using fake law enforcement identities,鈥� PRO3 stated.
The primary suspect鈥檚 three companions, all wearing NBI shirts, were also arrested by intelligence officers, backed by the local police, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and fully armed provincial mobile force operatives.
Authorities allegedly confiscated a .45-caliber Rock Island pistol with a magazine loaded with seven live rounds, a hand grenade, four two-way radios, and two small plastic sachets of shabu (crystal meth) from the suspects.
It was learned that the firearm was being sold for P19,000.
The suspects are now facing multiple charges, including illegal possession of a firearm, ammunition, and explosives; drug possession; usurpation of authority; and violation of the gun ban. INQ