BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – One of the suspects in a series of telecommunication (telco) cable theft here was arrested in Bangga Cegasco, Araneta Street, Barangay Pahanocoy.
Police identified the arrested as Romel “Boy Kable” Ellena, a construction worker.
Ellena was nabbed on May 6, according to Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) director Police Colonel Noel Aliño who presented the suspect to the media on Wednesday.
Aliño also confirmed that an organized crime group is behind the telco cable thefts.
“Sa Bacolod, ti damo gid ya gapang-utod kable…sa amon ya [grupo] diutay lang…daw may mga gang, mag-operate ka dapat ara kamo sa apat ukon tatlo,” said Ellena.
He added: “Ang iban daw ka organized na gid sila ya kay pwede sila ka operate nga adlaw kay may mga uniform kag ID [of telcos] sila.”
Recovered from Ellena was 50 meters of cable wire owned by telecommunications company Globe Telecommunications. The seized cable wires had an estimated value of P35,000.
There are three other suspects, all of whom evaded arrest.
According to Aliño, a background check of Ellena revealed that he previously served jail time for illegal drugs.
Aliño will summon all of the junk shop operators in the city after Ellena revealed that they are melting down copper from the stolen cable wires which are then sold to junk shops at P250 to P380 a kilo./PN
