A suspected illegal recruiter was arrested by the Negros Occidental and Bacolod police operatives in a joint entrapment operation at the Jolibee fastfood at Circumferential-Burgos roads in Brgy. Villamonte, Bacolod City, at noon yesterday.

Jose Rene Pelaez Blanco, 44, married, of San Carlos City and temporarily residing in Purok Malvar Cubay, Brgy. Villamonte, was apprehended for allegedly collecting money from five maritime graduates in Bacolod City. The amount was supposed to cover processing fees for working in a shipping company, Senior Insp. Gary Allan Resuma of the Provincial Anti-Illegal Task Force, yesterday told the DAILY STAR.

Blanco, who uses aliases, such as ship captain Victor Nillos of the Jomalia Shipping Inc. based in Mandaue City, Cebu, was apprehended after he accepted an envelope containing marked money from a police operative who posed as an applicant.

Recovered from him were P100 in marked money, P179.75 in cash, two cellphones, passports, seaman's books and training certificates of the complainants, whose names are being withheld by the DAILY STAR. Resuma said Blanco had collected P10,000 to P20,000 each from the complainants. Blanco also promised the complainants work in an inter-island ship and later to the international ship, Resuma added.

Resuma said they have confirmed that Blanco is not connected with the shipping company.

He said Blanco was arrested through the joint effort of Chief Insp. Rosauro Francisco, Negros Occidental police office intelligence operatives, Bacolod Task Force Lawin operatives led by Supt. Leo Irwin Agpangan and Precinct 4 personnel led by Senior Insp. Ulysses Ortiz.

Blanco is now detained in the lock-up cell of Police Precinct 4 while large-scale estafa charges are being readied against him, Resuma said.*DMG

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