Police believe that members of the so-called “acetylene gang” were about to strike again after they discovered a botched excavation in a house in Poblacion, Naga City.
Four men have reportedly been occupying the house since March.
The caretaker of the house, Richard Canonego, called the police after neighbors reported hearing mysterious noises the past several days.
The lessee, Alex Sabado, who claimed to be from Toledo City, and his three companions were no longer in the house when police arrived to investigate.
Police found a hole in the ground wide enough to accommodate a medium-built person. The tunnel led to the sewers which is connected to four nearby pawnshops.
A wooden bed was placed on top of the excavation site to conceal the hole.
Supt. Brindo Nacario, chief of police of Naga, said 12 sacks containing soil and debris were kept near the toilet.
Excavation tools were also found in the house.
Nacario said they will ask the owner of a nearby house which was equipped with a closed-circuit television camera that has its lens focused on the area where the house is located to allow them access to the footage.
In 2010, police foiled an attempt to break into a pawnshop in Colon St. in downtown Cebu City after two members of the Acetylene Gang were arrested.
Suspects Kenneth Dayodoy Coplanga, 47, and Madrid Batnag, 40, both from La Trinidad, Benguet admitted to have planned to break into Gemmary pawnshop using acetylene torches.
The police recovered crowbars, a manual drill, LPG tank, acetylene cutter and other equipment from their rented room.
Also in 2010, members of the Acetylene Gang tried to break into a pawnshop in barangay Punta Princesa but the pawnshop’s alarm system alerted the police.
The robbers, who bore a hole through the concrete wall, escaped but their tools were recovered.
In 2004, the same pawnshop lost P1.7 million worth of cash and jewelry also to members of the acetylene gang.