ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/ 8 October) – Two members of a kidnap-for-ransom group allegedly involved in two abduction incidents here were arrested Friday, police said.
Senior Supt. Edwin de Ocampo, Zamboanga City police director, said the suspects were arrested around 5:30 p.m. Friday at the public market of Malangas municipality in the nearby province of Zamboanga Sibugay.
De Ocampo identified the arrested suspects as Rajack Campo and Abdurahman Abdurahim, who were arrested by Malangas policemen.
The warrants for their arrest for kidnapping with serious illegal detention and several detention with ransom was issued by Judge Gregorio dela Peña III of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 12, De Ocampo said.
He said that the identities of the kidnappers were confirmed by kidnap victim Maricris Cuartocruz through the pictures sent to her through email. The 21-year-old volunteer nurse at the Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC) was kidnapped from her residence in the evening of December 14, 2010 in Barangay Manicahan, 20 kilometers east of this city.
She was released February 28, 2011 in the town of Alicia, Zamboanga Sibugay after her family paid “goodwill money” to the kidnappers.
De Ocampo disclosed that the two arrested suspects were also involved in the kidnapping of retired soldier Benjamin Almonte on February 6, 2010.
Almonte, 55, was also kidnapped in Manicahan as he went fishing, a hobby he picked up after retiring from military service.
The kidnappers freed Almonte on February 19, 2010 while being pursued by government forces in the boundary of Tungawan and R.T. Lim municipalities in Zamboanga Sibugay. (MindaNews)