BACOLOD City – Two suspected members of the notorious Epogon robbery group operating in Negros Occidental were arrested for illegal possession of firearm.
Police identified them as Eduard Acopan, 34, of Barangay Aranda, Hinigaran, Negros Occidental and Gerald Batoy, 33, of Barangay Cabanbanan, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental.
Major Lowell Garinganao, officer-in-charge of the Cauayan municipal police station, said the suspects were apprehended after the police conducted an operation against loose fire arms in Barangay Guilungan, Cauayan on Sept. 7.
Confiscated from their possession were two .45-caliber pistols with several live bullets and a hand grenade.
Two men, according to Garinganao, were subjected to a week-long surveillance prior to the operation.
“We have been monitoring these suspects for some time already. We received information that they have been targeting a businessman in Barangay Tiling, Cauayan,” he said.
Acopan and Batoy reportedly boarded a jeepney from Kabankalan City bound to Cauayan sans knowing that an undercover cop was already onboard.
When they reached Barangay Guilungan, the two suspects alighted from the jeep.
They were then flagged down by policemen stationed at the area after seeing Acopan with a gun tucked at his waist.
According to Garinganao, the Epogon robbery group has been actively operating in the southern towns of the province.
Acopan was reportedly linked to these robbery incidents in the towns of La Castellana, Moises Padilla and Cauayan.
Garinganao disclosed that Batoy is a member of a peace-keeping action team at his barangay.
Both suspects were detained in the custodial facility of the municipal police station, facing charges./PN
