Suspected Pentagon kidnap gang leader nabbed

COTABATO CITY – A suspected leader of the notorious Pentagon kidnap gang said to be involved in the abduction of a three-year-old boy in Kidapawan City in 2005 has fallen into government hands. The suspect – Robert Carbon – did not offer resistance when elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-North Cotabato swooped down on his lair on January 2 in Valencia City in Bukidnon, said Kidapawan City Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco. Prior to his arrest, Carbon had been under surveillance for the past month, Gantuangco said. “The case is now solved. We hope his arrest will lead to the fall of his cohorts," he said Gantuangco was referring to the kidnapping of Ralph Ashley Alcular, who was seized by his nanny – Hazel Tuala – on Aug. 24, 2005 while inside the Alliance Church Elementary School in Kidapawan City. Carbon allegedly masterminded the abduction. The victim was subsequently recovered by members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) after being abandoned in Liguasan Marsh in Pikit, North Cotabato on October that same year. Prior to the victim’s recovery, his 64-year-old grandfather – Alberto Alcular – and another relative identified as Queden Lim, were killed by the kidnappers. The Pentagon kidnap gang has been responsible for a number of kidnap-for-ransom cases in central Mindanao, including the October 2001 seizure of Italian priest Guissepe Pierrantoni in Dimatali town in Zamboanga del Sur province and the abduction of five Chinese engineers in May 2001. Pierrantoni was released in April 2002 reportedly after ransom was paid while four of the Chinese engineers were killed following a rescue operation in June 2001. - GMANews.TV