Police officer, cohort arrested for alleged extortion, robbery

August 31, 2020

Authorities arrested a police officer and his cohort for alleged robbery and extortion in Imus, Cavite last August 28.

In a report  by the Calabarzon police on Monday, Police Staff Sergeant Ronald Laurente and a certain Tricia Francesca Santos was arrested by operatives from Philippine National Police- Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (PNP- IMEG) and Imus City Police Station at Espeleta Bahayang Pag-asa  for allegedly extorting a total of P140, 000  from the family of a detainee from Imus City Custodial Center.

Initial investigation disclosed that on August 3 and 6, Santos asked P20, 000 and P 30,000 from the family of the victim with the promise of processing their son's bail.

Last August 24, the victim's family gave Santos P65,000 for other expenses, and she promised that the release order will be available a week after.

Santos failed to fulfill her commitment and again asked the family for an additional P25,000 for her son’s bail.

The victim's family sought assistance from the authorities and a joint entrapment operation was launched which resulted in the arrest of Santos.

Laurente was arrested after it was revealed that he was Santos’ cohort by inducing her to extort money from the victim.

The arrested suspects are under police custody. Ella Dionisio/DMS