ILOILO CITY – Police arrested the No. 1 most wanted person in Western Visayas in Calinog, Iloilo before dawn Wednesday, July 20.
The Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 said the suspect, Joel Caseño Leyble, 29, was arrested in the mountainous barangay of Toyungan past 3:30 a.m.
He is wanted for attempted murder and three counts of rape.
Leyble was accused of trying to murder a man using a gun in May 2021. However, the gun failed to discharge and the man survived.
The alleged rapes occurred between April 2020 and January 2021.
Separate warrants of arrest against Leyble were issued by Judge Eugenio Esperanza of the Regional Trial Court in Janiuay, Iloilo.
“This is the second attempt to arrest him. On the first operation last week he was able to elude arrest because he heard some noise when the police were approaching his house,” said Police Brig. Gen. Flynn Dongbo, PRO-6 director.
Leyble was arrested by combined elements of the PRO-6 Regional Intelligence Division, PRO-6 Regional Mobile Force Battalion, Iloilo Police Provincial Office-Intelligence Unit, 2nd Iloilo Provincial Mobile Force Company, the Special Action Force (SAF), Calinog Municipal Police Station, Lambunao Municipal Police Station, and a unit of the Philippine Army.
“His arrest should be a stern warning to the remaining wanted individuals in the region that you cannot hide forever. The long arm of the law will catch you soonest wherever you hide,” added Dongbo.