MANILA: The Philippine authorities have busted a kidnap-for-ransom gang consisting of ranking police officers that have been targeting Chinese and Malaysian tourists in the Philippines.The highest ranked among the suspects was Major Christel Carlo Villanueva, an intelligence officer. The three others were all sergeants.The gang was behind the kidnapping of three Chinese men and a Malaysian in the capital Manila on June 2, said Abalos.
They were then handcuffed and shoved inside a white van. They were released at around 6am on June 3 after a ransom of 2.5 million pesos was paid.Major-General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr, police chief in the capital region, said the suspects were identified through security cameras and accounts of witnesses and the victims.Major-Gen Nartatez said the gang could be behind four other kidnaping cases that likewise targeted foreigners.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte had described many members of the national police, numbering more than 230,000, as “rotten to the core”.