BACNOTAN, La Union – Policemen manning a checkpoint here arrested five goats in various towns of La Union and Pangasinan Tuesday afternoon.
Chief Inspector Reynaldo Soria, the town’s police chief, identified the suspects as Boyet Flores, Willy Fernandez, Jose Estacio, Jonathan Osilla, and Bernie Sabala, all residents of Dagupan City, Pangasinan.
Soria said the policemen apprehended the men after they were suspiciously moving inside a dark green car, a Toyota Corolla, with their loot of four goats.
During the inspection, policemen allegedly found and confiscated three sachets of the banned amphethamine hydrocloride or shabu and a knife inside the car.
Soria said that owners of the stolen goats went to the police station after hearing reports of the arrest. One of the owners identified himself as village councilor in nearby Balaoan town.
Soria disclosed that he had previously received calls from several police chiefs in Pangasinan and La Union, informing him that the car used by the suspects is the same vehicle spotted by witnesses in stealing the goats in their area.
A police investigator said the modus of the suspects is to get the goats that were being pastured in vacant lots along the national highway, from Pangasinan to La Union.
When asked where they would be taking the goats, the suspects said they were delivering the animals to a restaurant in Dagupan City.
Soria said that a case of theft against the suspects has been filed at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Balaoan, where the goats were stolen, while a case for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 was filed at the RTC in San Fernando City.
The suspects were detained at the Bacnotan municipal jail. It was not known whether the car and the goats were impounded in the same facility. Jun Elias/NPN-northboundasia.com