Thursday, January 25, 2007 Kidnap group leader nabbed
LINGAYEN -- A leader of the Pepino kidnap-for-ransom group was arrested Wednesday in Bolinao, Pangasinan Wednesday, police officials said.
The suspect, Jessie Pepino alias Ging-Ging, was with his family and friends swimming at a beach in Barangay Arnedo in the town when Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (Pacer) and Pangasinan policemen arrested him for kidnapping charges.
Pangasinan Provincial Police Director Alan Purisima said Pepino and his group had been involved in kidnapping activities since 1998. The latest alleged occurred on August 29, 2006 in Mandaluyong City where they brought and released the victim in Caloocan City.
Pepino's brother, Jerry, was convicted of the same case and is detained at the National Bilibid Prison (NBP).
Police said Jerry was arrested by operatives of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) in 1998 in Cebu. The suspect was then the alleged leader of the Baling-Baling kidnap-for-ransom group with its members, mostly natives of Surigao del Sur.
Charges of illegal possession of firearms and usurpation of authority were filed against Jerry and his men before the Municipal Trial and Circuit Court (MTCC) in Lapu-Lapu City on April 6, 2006. They, however, managed to post bail.
The group later resurfaced and changed their name into the Pepino kidnap-for-ransom group. Some of their victims were from Mandaue City, Cebu City, Davao del Norte, Butuan City, and Metro Manila. (LCMY/Sunnex)
