AN ALLEGED member of a syndicate involved in selling hotdog products was arrested at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 13, 2013, for swindling a vendor in Oslob Public Market.
The suspect was identified as Arel Papio Benito, 33, with live-in partner from Caloocan City, but temporarily residing in Carcar City.
His cohort escaped arrest.
Captain Ian Macatangay, chief of Oslob Police Station, told SunStar Cebu that the victim identified as Zenaida Agoylo Ronolo, 52, from Barangay Poblacion, Oslob, asked their help past noon on Tuesday after she was duped by two men who introduced themselves as sales product agents.
Ronolo told police that she bought P17,407 worth of hotdog products from the suspects, who left to get the refrigerator intended for hotdogs but did not return.
She said that when she checked the carton, it only contained hotdogs worth around P5,000, prompting her to find the suspects but they already left on board a motorcycle going to Carcar.
She added she then sought assistance from the Oslob police, who then alerted their counterparts from other municipalities.
Benito was arrested by Alcoy police at the checkpoint, while his cohort escaped arrest as he boarded a passenger bus.
Benito was turned over to Oslob Police Station.
Only P2,000 of the stolen amount was recovered from Benito, who also yielded two packs of substance believed to be shabu weighing 0.04 grams.
Macatangay said the suspects are members of a syndicate group from Manila. They arrived in Cebu last June 8.
"It seems that they are staying in Carcar, others are in Toledo and other areas of the province because their operation is good only for a week before they move to another place," added Macatangay.
Benito said the suspects came from Iloilo and Manila, but they moved to the Visayas to avoid detection.
Macatangay urged other people who had been victimized by the suspects to come forward and file charges. (GPL/TPT)