MANILA – The suspected chieftain of a notorious criminal syndicate involved in several high-profile robberies in Metro Manila and neighboring areas, was killed along with his three cohorts during a shootout with agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in a coastal town of Cebu province in the Visayas, an NBI spokesman disclosed.
One of those killed, the spokesman said, was Alvin Flores, tagged as the head of a group of criminals which bore his name.
Flores was also tagged as one of the country’s most wanted criminals with a cash reward equivalent to $10,000 for his capture – dead or alive.
Three of the cohorts of Flores were also slain during the encounter, the spokesman said. He added another suspect surrendered when he tried but failed to escape through the sea because he did not known how to swim.
The spokesman pointed out the syndicate gained notoriety for its alleged involvement in high profile robberies in Metro Manila and neighboring areas by posing as policemen complete with police uniforms or similar attire and armed with high-powered weapons.
He said that using the same “modus operandi,†the group, personally led by Flores, broke into the upscale Greenbelt shopping mall in suburban Makati City, Metro Manila shortly after noon on October 18, proceeded to a store selling Rolex watches and stripped it of its valuable wares.
But two police escorts of Mayor Freddie Tinga of Makati’s neighboring city of Taguig noticed the robbery going on and shot it out with the suspects, killing one of them, the spokesman said.
At that time, the spokesman said Tinga was having lunch with several other Taguig officials in one of the restaurants.
But before additional police reinforcements could arrive, the spokesman said Flores managed to escape aboard two vans.
Since their escape, the spokesman said the NBI joined the Philippine National Police in the nationwide hunt for Flores and his gang that took them as far as the Visayas.
The spokesman said the shootout occurred when NBI agents traced Flores and his group who were hiding in a rented beachfront house in Compostela, Cebu on Thursday.
He disclosed the agents went to the house to serve arrest warrants issued by the lower courts against Flores and his cohorts for robbery charges filed against them, including the Greenbelt heist.
However, the suspects fired upon the NBI agents, resulting in the gun battle, according to the spokesman.
He also said the gang was involved in the bloody shootout in suburban Paranaque City, Metro Manila in December 2008, which resulted in the death of at least 12 of the members.
A police officer and an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) and his young daughter were also killed when they were caught in the crossfire.
After the Cebu encounter, the spokesman said the NBI agents seized from the scene assorted firearms and several Rolex and other expensive watches believed to be part of their loot taken from the Greenbelt robbery.
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