Police arrest ax-wielding men who robbed P134 million from Skyway motorists

Police arrested two suspects from a group of ax-wielding men preying on motorists in the Skyway who have stolen over P134 million from their victims. 

According to a report by John Consulta on "24 Oras" on Tuesday, two suspects have been arrested in separate police operations. 

Last August 22, dashcam footage showed the suspects robbing a car along the Skyway ramp at 5:30 p.m. in broad daylight. Armed with axes and wearing bonnets and hoodies, the men used their vehicle to block another car and robbed its occupants of P10 million. 

On March 12, another video showed a car suddenly stop in front of the victim’s car while another vehicle blocked it from behind. Four armed men emerged and stole a bag containing P7 million from the Korean victim.

 "Dito sa Entertainment City (sa Paranaque City) nanggagaling, aabangan nila, pagpasok ng Skyway mismo, iipitin nila yung sasakyan. Passenger side na salamin pinalakol nila then nabuksan nila yung pinto, nakuha nila yung pera," said Police Colonel Mendez, NCRPO Regional Intelligence Division Chief. 

Police traced one of the suspects behind the attack in Malate, Manila. During the operation on Tuesday, suspect Anjo Sardoma tried to escape by jumping from the third floor of a building. 

Police seized a revolver and a hand grenade from Sardoma,.who was identified as the driver of a sports utility vehicle (SUV) outside a casino hotel where one of the victims came from. The SUV was one of the vehicles involved in a robbery on the Skyway.

Armed with a search warrant, a team from Police Regional Office-4-A arrested another suspect, Joland Cabotaje, in Cavite. 

A gun was confiscated from Cabotaje. 

The NCRPO said Cabotaje and Sardoma are cousins who are said to be members of the "Skyway Robbery Holdup Group" that has staged eight robberies that yielded P134 million in loot.

Mendez said their intelligence efforts managed to identify the group whose vehicle license plates matched those on the CCTV of the cars that were used in the previous robberies. 

Both men denied the accusations against them. 

 "Sa korte na lang po ako magpapaliwanag," said Sadorma. 

The NCRPO said its investigation is still ongoing to catch the other suspects. —RF, GMA Integrated News