The PNP Highway Patrol Group on Saturday afternoon arrested two men reportedly linked to a criminal syndicate using the name of the First Family in their illegal activities.
PNP-HPG Director Brig. Gen. Eleazar Matta identified the suspects as Jay Jay Javier and Joselito Agtuca, who were apprehended on Filipinas Ave. in Paranaque City.
Matta said the arrest of Javier and Agtuca was incidental after his men spotted their Suburban vehicle (NCQ-9344) with flashing blinkers traveling on the avenue.
He said further inspection on the vehicle showed it had no rear plate number and the two men could not present the proper documents to establish ownership of the vehicle.
He said the two were brought to the HPG headquarters in Camp Crame so the vehicle could be impounded. But the men refused to voluntarily open the vehicle, forcing his men to smash a window so its interior could be inspected.
Matta said his men discovered a C4 explosive, a loaded Glock pistol, and three bulletproof vests inside the vehicle.
Matta said they are hunting down the companions of the two men, who managed to escape on board another vehicle, a plate-less Toyota Fortuner, when they were accosted.
Markus Lacanilao, special envoy on transnational crimes, said Agtuca and a certain Francisco Ouano were earlier arrested by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in an entrapment operation in Pasay City last April.
Their arrest stemmed from complaints filed by businessmen from Cebu who alleged that Ouano’s group had been demanding money from them in exchange for the continued operations of their smoke emission testing centers and to conduct physical examinations, the requisites in renewing vehicle registrations and driver’s licenses, respectively.
