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Wednesday, September 17, 2003
2 suspects in slay of customs men fall
By Garry A. Cabotaje & Karlon N. Rama
With Elias O. Baquero & Giovanni A. Nilles
CEBU -- The suspected gunman in the killing of customs deputy collector Eduardo "Wewe" Lao was captured Tuesday afternoon, almost at the same time lawmen took into custody another suspect in the Palace of Justice.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 Chief Reynaldo Esmeralda refused to confirm or deny the arrest of the main suspect in the ambush-slaying of Lao and customs appraiser Bennett Soreņo last July 24.
He told Sun.Star Tuesday night, though, that they will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. Wednesday to announce a "breakthrough" in the Lao case.
The suspected gunman is said to be a customs official's driver but is not a regular employee of the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
Sources at the bureau said the suspect (whose name was not available yet Tuesday night) was with five persons to shed light on the case when he was arrested inside the NBI 7 office.
Felix Espino, relieved Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Cebu chief, accompanied the group to the NBI 7 past 4 p.m.
Around the same time, NBI 7 men took into custody Rustico Fernandez, one of the five men earlier arrested for the disappearance of two container vans of smuggled rice.
Fernandez, a CIIS messenger, went to the Palace of Justice with his lawyer Dominick Elnar when, moments after his bail was approved, NBI agents dragged him out.
Sources said he was taken to the NBI headquarters where he was linked to the July 24 assassination of Lao and Soreņo.
Fernandez and three other men were charged with theft before the Regional Trial Court Tuesday by the Cebu City Prosecutor's Office, amid objections from defense lawyer Donato Gonzales.
Tighter rules
Gonzales said in an interview that the prosecutor's office should have not done an inquest proceeding since the four---Fernandez, Winley dela Fuente, Andoy Glodove and Arnel Ondoy---were not caught in the act of stealing two 20-foot container vans from the Cebu International Port (CIP) last Sept. 7.
The BOC Port of Cebu, meanwhile, will no longer allow the use of photocopied import papers for the release of cargo shipments, as one way of keeping smugglers from recycling documents.
Customs Legal Officer James Edward Dy Buco also said he is looking into security lapses at the CIP.
Glodove and Ondoy are employees of the Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp., the exclusive cargo handler at the CIP. Another employee, Feliciano Fernando, was not included in the charge sheet because he is still at large.
In the affidavits they made before the NBI, the three said Fernandez contacted them for the withdrawal of the two container vans. Dela Fuente, who said he only went to the NBI to clear his name, was allegedly the one who got in touch with Fernandez.
The four men posted P40,000 bail each.
Police earlier theorized that Lao's death may have something to do with the apprehension of the 10 vans containing smuggled rice from Vietnam.
Pro gunman
The suspected gunman was already in the NBI 7 office when Fernandez was taken to the bureau shortly after he was granted bail.
The witnesses reportedly identified him as the one who carried an Ingram machine pistol and strafed Lao's Isuzu Trooper while it stopped for a red light at the corner of Osmeņa Blvd. and R.R. Landon St., Cebu City around 5 p.m. last July 24.
Investigators considered him a professional gunman because he casually reloaded his pistol and pumped more bullets into the vehicle.
On Tuesday night, the bureau sought the assistance of Police Regional Office 7 Chief Robert Delfin, who sent a Special Weapons and Tactics team to the NBI 7.
"We sought the PNP's assistance because we received information that the suspect's colleagues would spring him from our custody," the source said.
Another source said Fernandez was detained again after two witnesses identified him as the one who wore a helmet and drove the red TMX Honda motorcycle.
He allegedly acted as backup and fired shots from behind while the Isuzu Trooper slowly moved forward.
Clue from bike
One of the two witnesses also identified the red TMX Honda as the motorcycle used by the suspects when they sped off toward R.R. Landon St.
The suspects abandoned the motorcycle on Sepulveda St. Zapatera Barangay Captain Frank Benedicto turned over the motorcycle, along with four other abandoned units, to authorities last month.
Aside from the arrest of the two suspects, the NBI 7 announced that the TMX Honda owner showed up at the bureau and complained that he was robbed and the motorcycle was taken from him.
For security reasons, the NBI 7 requested Cebu City Prosecutor Jose Pedrosa to hold an inquest in the bureau's office today, instead of the Palace of Justice.
Also Tuesday, Esmeralda urged dyAB broadcaster Leo Lastimosa to show proof that only one van was opened, out of the cargo allegedly owned by a local trader earlier linked to the illegal drugs trade.
Contrary to broadcaster Lastimosa's comments, Esmeralda said seven container vans of imported rice have been opened and checked by a drug-sniffing dog from the Central Command (Centcom). Only one van remains unchecked.
The NBI 7 requested the Centcom canine unit to send its drug-sniffing dog to check reports that the 10 20-footer container vans, seized by the Bureau of Customs last July 18, also contained illegal drugs. Sun.Star Cebu |
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