The infamous “martilyo gang” of Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur have struck again, this time taking away 5.6 million peso in jewellery in a daylight robbery at a shopping mall.
Police are in a desperate manhunt to arrest the members who are responsible for the robbery at ML Lhuiller outlet at the Gaisano Mall at 1.40pm on Sunday.
The heist involved 168 pieces of jewelry in all. The group was pinpointed after the leader by the name of Balani was identified, he is a discharged Army captain from the region.
Investigation showed that five of the gang men disarmed the security at the back entrance of the mall while the other two security guards of the jewelry outlet were amazed as their other companions smashed the glass display with hammers and carted away the loot. The robbery took only 41 seconds to complete based on CCTV surveillance of the store.
A customer was wounded (a lawyer) and one gang member is believed to have been shot in the parking lot as the gang got away.