Cops rescue kidnapped Vietnamese woman, arrest three Chinese nationals

Parañaque City - Police rescued a Vietnamese woman from three Chinese kidnappers on Tuesday, 6 August, 2024 in an operation conducted at a residential resort in Barangay Tambo, Parañaque City.

The victim, alias Lang, a 23-year-old Vietnamese tourist, was safely recovered by the authorities, while the three suspects, known as Jun, 31, Hao, 27, and Zhang, 26, were arrested.

The operation began following a report from the residential resort’s security personnel to the Tambo Police Substation indicating that a kidnapping had taken place.

Acting swiftly, police and security personnel proceeded to the unit, where they rescued the victim and detained the suspects in the crime committed from 12:00 AM to 8:10 PM .

Police recovered the following items: One Taurus 9mm pistol with one magazine loaded with four live rounds, one C2 P-07 9mm caliber pistol with a magazine loaded with seven live rounds, one North American Ans Black Widow 22 Magnum revolver, various ammunition including seven 9mm rounds and one 12 gauge round, ₱236,000.00 in cash, several electronic devices including an Apple iPad, Apple MacBook Air, and seven iPhones, one Chinese passport (alias Liu), one Vietnamese passport (Dong), a set of LTO Vehicle License Plates (CBP7996), one Matte Black Ford Ranger Sport, 76 suspected ecstasy tablets with an estimated value of ₱129,200.00, and more or less 5 grams of suspected shabu valued at ₱34,000.00.

The victim revealed during the investigation that she was engaged in a money exchange services business in Manila, catering to several Chinese nationals and other foreigners.

On 6 August, at about 12:20 AM, she was contacted by a Chinese national named Zhang through the Telegram chat app to meet at a condominium residence in Barangay Tambo, Parañaque City, to exchange Vietnam Dong for Philippine Peso.

Upon her arrival, she was met by Jun, another Chinese national, and they proceeded to one of the units in the establishment.

Inside the unit, the suspect Hao suddenly threatened the victim with a knife and forcibly took her cellphone. She was held against her will and threatened with death if she did not comply with the suspects' demands.

The victim was then transported for almost two hours to an unknown location before being brought to another condo in Parañaque on board a Ford Ranger. Upon arrival at the second location, the victim was held at gunpoint, and the suspects took another iPhone from her.

They forcibly obtained her phone password and facial ID to access her online bank account.

The suspects then transferred her money to another unknown account, amounting to 8,940,000,000.00 VCB (Vietnamese Dong), equivalent to approximately ₱20,000,000.00.

Additionally, the suspects stole ₱300,000.00 in cash and several pieces of jewelry worth ₱1,000,000.00 from her condominium.

After taking the money and jewelry, the victim was transferred to a residential resort in Barangay Tambo, Parañaque City, where she was illegally detained and physically abused by the suspects.

Fortunately, three of the suspects left the room shortly after, and the remaining suspect guarding the victim fell asleep.

This gave the victim the opportunity to escape and seek assistance from the lobby security, who reported the incident to the Tambo police.

This led to her rescue and the subsequent arrest of the three suspects.

The suspects are facing multiple charges, including robbery, grave coercion, illegal detention, and violations of RA 10591 and RA 9165. These complaints will be filed with the Parañaque City Prosecutor’s Office, with an additional robbery complaint to be filed at the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office through inquest proceedings.