P10K to P30K per hit: Former hired gun shows how it's done

As police arrested an alleged hired killer in connection with the shooting of race car driver Enzo Pastor, a confessed former assassin agreed to share with GMA News' "24 Oras" his knowledge on how hired guns operate.

The interviewee, identified only as “Ka Dencio”, said he was a member of the Alex Boncayao Brigade for six years.

“Trabaho namin 'yung kunin 'yung mga target namin na may record sa NPA (New People's Army),” Ka Dencio said.
 

He then shifted to gun-for-hire work, where he earned P10,000 to P30,000 per target.

 

Ka Dencio said that if the target was a prominent personality, the minimum fee would amount to P100,000.

 

He would conduct surveillance for a week of the routes the victim usually takes. After this, he would plan to do the crime in an area with no CCTV cameras. 
 

Ka Dencio said he prefered to use a .45 caliber pistol provided to him by his handlers since it did the work efficiently.

 

“Isang putok lang tumba na kaagad,” Ka Dencio said. 

He said he would then dismantle the gun to prevent it from being used as evidence if it fell into the hands of authorities.

 

While in the death trade, Ka Dencio said he traveled a lot especially in Luzon and Visayas to take down targets. He said he used the situation to his advantage in order to get the job done.

“Kung traffic 'yung area motor ang gagamitin namin. Iba ang magmamaneho ako lang 'yung bababa. Aangkas na lang ako,” he said.

Ka Dencio said that if cops were on to him, he would pass the job to another hitman willing to take the contract.
 

He said that after he made a hit, he would monitor the police investigation on the news.

Ka Dencio said they sometimes try to shake investigators off by changing their killing style.

 

“Pag konti lang di namin babarilin. Saksakin na lang namin para ma-charge na hindi gun-for-hire. Mga lasinggero lang [kunyari] ang sumaksak,” he said.

 

Ka Dencio added that handlers mostly recruited middle-aged men since young recruits were easily caught by the authorities .

He  also said that although this was easy money, he wouldn't have entered the death trade if there were decent jobs for him in the province. —Andrei Medina/NB, GMA News