ROBBERY. One of the two jewelry stores robbed by nine armed men inside the Gaisano Grand Mall in Bacolod City on Wednesday night (August 7, 2019). A “martilyo gang” from Ozamiz City is believed to have perpetrated the crime, police said. (Photo courtesy of Jill Legislador)

BACOLOD CITY -- The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) is looking into a possible link between the illegal drug trade and the robbery in two jewelry stores inside a shopping mall here on Wednesday night.

As of Thursday morning, investigation and pursuit operations in connection to the incident believed to have been perpetrated by the so-called “martilyo gang” of the Ozamiz group.

The police report said at 6:30 p.m., nine men armed with firearms used hammers and axes, which they bought in the department store, to destroy the glass shelves and steal the items of F and C Jewelry and Haoling Jewelry Store inside the Gaisano Grand Mall.

Col. Henry Biñas, city police director, said investigators are determining the possible contacts of the robbers in the city as they are looking into reports they are part of the Ozamiz group.

“Actually, what we have identified is (they are) from Ozamiz. We are also checking drug personalities in Negros Island and the neighboring region. We are analyzing that most probably there is a connection to illegal drugs,” Biñas said in an interview with a radio station here on Thursday.

The city police chief noted that those involved in illegal drug operations would usually resort to this kind of diversionary tactic.

“Once the campaign against illegal drugs has intensified, they strike business establishments to divert the focus of the police,” Biñas said.

Initial reports showed the robbers took about PHP4.5 million worth of jewelry from the two stores, but Biñas said on Thursday, the estimate was about PHP3 million.

The perpetrators left the scene of the crime onboard motorcycles and a car.

The heist took place on the same day hundreds of policemen were deployed at the Bacolod South Ceres Terminal to ease the tension caused by the stand-off on the return of private security services at the bus terminal, which led to the halt in south-bound trips, amid the feud among its owners, the Yanson family.

Biñas said he doesn’t want to make excuses for the robbery incident as he acknowledged that the perpetrators apparently found the opportunity to strike since policemen assigned in the area have also been dispatched to the bus terminal. (PNA)