Cops nab 2 suspected robbers on Good Friday in Quirino

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – Two suspected burglars believed to be members of the notorious Acetylene Gang fell into the hands of the police after attempting a daring break into a pawnshop on Good Friday. Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian identified the suspects as Jose Dugaw, 41, a resident of Pedlisan village in Maddela town in Quirino; and his cohort Reyden Fansa, 21, a resident of Bontoc town in Mountain Province. Initial police investigation showed that the two were caught while trying to pull themselves out of an opening of a drainage canal that passes under a pawnshop building. Investigators said the security guard of MLhuillier Pawnshop in Maddela town’s Poblacion Norte village, immediately called the police after hearing steel-cutting sounds underground. This prompted the police to wait at the opening of the canal where the suspects were thought to have entered. Recovered from the drainage were digging tools, industrial cutting accessories and a portable acetylene tank. Police said a deeper investigation on the matter is ongoing because, according to them, several cases of burglary using the same method have been recorded in and even outside Region II. Over the years, banks, foreign exchange dealers, pawnshops and cargo forwarding companies have fallen victims to burglary groups authorities labeled as “Acetylene Gang" or “Ifugao-Igorot Group." The syndicate’s method of breaking into their target establishments involves the use of main underground canals that pass beneath an establishment. Burglars cut the steel floor matting using acetylene, slowly crack the cement floor to gain entry. At times, they rent an adjacent office room where they either dig under or simply smash the concrete wall. A former Chief of Police of a Nueva Vizcaya town told GMANews.TV that these robbery syndicates are well oiled and organized. “We suspect that some of them are former miners who lost their jobs after some mining companies in Benguet and neighboring provinces have ceased to operate," he said. The police officer said they have long believed that members of the syndicate have been advised by their lawyers not to bring any firearms whenever they set on a robbery mission so that they can be bailed out when caught. — Floro Taguinod/LBG, GMANews.TV