THE leader of the Nadela gun-for-hire group and two hitmen from their rival group, the Gido gun-for-hire group, were arrested by Cebu City police last week during an anti-criminality operation.
The hitmen arrested were identified as Wilfredo Pologon Nadera, 23, from Sitio Camagong, Barangay Lahug, the leader of the Nadera Gun-for-Hire Group, and Jerson Tapere, 25, from Paradise 2, Barangay Kinasang-an, Cebu City, along with Mark Argiey Ebo, alias Garan, 38, from Sambag 2, a member of the Gibo Gun-for-Hire Group.
The arrested suspects admitted their involvement in several shooting incidents over the past month and week.
Police Colonel Enrico Figueroa, the chief of Cebu City Police, stated that the leaders of each group have masters who are imprisoned and give orders to the hitmen to eliminate drug personalities who have not paid their debts in the illegal drug trade.
This was also confirmed by Police Brigadier General Redrico Maranan, the head of the Central Visayas Police, who explained that they received information directly from the suspects, who gave statements during the investigation.
It was revealed that all the victims of the recent shooting incidents had criminal records related to illegal drugs and were suspected of being police informants.
They were believed to have accumulated large drug debts, which led to them being eliminated by their employers.
"Kasi yung victim ng recent shooting incident ay pawang mga drug personalities mga drug pushers, kung titingnan mo in a bigger picture ini-eliminate nila yung kanilang mga drug pushers on reasons na baka napapaghinalaan na police informant or maybe they are pocketing some of the proceeds of illegal of their illegal activities, Maranan said.
(The victims of the recent shooting incidents were all drug personalities—drug pushers. If you look at the bigger picture, they are eliminating these drug pushers for reasons such as being suspected as police informants or perhaps they are pocketing some of the proceeds from their illegal activities.)
The three suspects admitted to having committed multiple killings, with payments ranging from P30,000 to P60,000 after each job, excluding the motorcycle driver's fee.
Nadera admitted that he had killed seven people, all involved in illegal drugs, while Ebo had been a gun-for-hire for 16 years and had killed several people.
"Tungod sa kalisud sa panahon maong nasulod ko anang trabahoa," Nadera said.
(Due to the difficult times, I ended up in this line of work.)
Within Nadera's group, only one member remains at large, alias Sindo. Recently, alias Tapiri was sent to Cebu City Jail, but he admitted that the hitmen also had their own downlines, who are now being sought by the police.
Meanwhile, in the Gibo group, besides alias Garan, alias Kuya and alias Pare are still free at the moment.
Maranan refused to disclose the name of the major drug personality in prison who commands the killings outside.
Maranan stated that with the arrests of the leaders and several members of rival groups, the cases of shootings in Cebu City would soon decrease.
He also assured the people of Cebu not to be alarmed, as they had already apprehended notable criminals.
There are still members of each group being hunted by the police, who are determined to arrest them for the peace and order of the city. (AYB)