CAGAYAN– Two enforcers of the Land Transportation Office Region 2 (LTO-2) were arrested during an entrapment operation in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.
Nabbed at a restaurant here were Chito Apattad, and Darwin Isidro Pauig.
According to Cagayan Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Ariel N. Quilang, Apattad and Pauig were arrested by personnel from the CPPO Intelligence Unit, the Tuguegarao City Police Station, and Enrile Police Station during an entrapment operation at a restaurant in Barangay Pengue-Ruyu, Tuguegarao City.
Police said drivers coming from Las Pinas City, and Cabanatuan City, onboard their respective closed vans, were reportedly flagged down by the suspects along the national highway in Barangay Maddarulug in Enrile, Cagayan.
While the drivers were able to show valid documents, Apattad and Pauig reportedly continued to insist that their vehicles were unregistered, and could thus be considered as colorum vehicles.
The LTO enforcers then allegedly demanded P30,000 so that they would not be charged.
They also confiscated the official receipts and certificates of registration of their vehicles, and told them to follow them to a restaurant located along Maharlika Highway, in Pengue Ruyu, Tuguegarao City.
It was at this point that one of the drivers contacted his employer about the extortion racket. The employer, in turn, sought assistance from the Enrile Police.
Operatives from the CPPO Intelligence Unit, Tuguegarao City Police, and Enrile Police were immediately dispatched to conduct an entrapment operation against Apattad and Pauig at the restaurant.
Confiscated from the suspects were a loaded caliber-.45 Armscor, two magazines with 16 live ammunition; entrapment money amounting to one genuine P1,000 bill and 19 pcs fake P1,000 bill used as boodle money, a temporary permit ticket (TOP) and other documents.
Apattad and Pauig will be charged with robbery-extortion and illegal possession of firearms.