A former Manila Police District (MPD) officer who allegedly became a leader of a criminal gang and is wanted for murder by a Malabon court was found detained in a Pampanga jail, police said.

Operatives of the MPD Station 7 tracking the suspect to serve a warrant of arrest discovered that he was already confined at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) Angeles District Jail, Male Dormitory, Camp Tomas Pepito, Sto. Domingo, Angeles City, Pampanga, on 7 November 2025.

Police identified the accused as Ric, 33, single, Filipino, former police corporal, and resident of Herrera Street, Sta. Cruz, Manila.

The search for the suspect stemmed from a warrant of arrest issued by Presiding Judge Ma. Antonia Linsangan Largoza-Cantero of the Malabon Regional Trial Court Branch 291 on 5 November 2025 for murder, with no bail recommended.

According to police intelligence reports, RIC entered the Philippine National Police in 2017 and previously served with the MPD Drug Enforcement Unit. 

He was linked to illegal drug activities through his girlfriend, who was allegedly acting as a police asset involved in drug peddling. He was later transferred to MPD Station 3, where he was assigned as a jailer.

In 2024, the accused was dismissed from the PNP service for malversation charges.

In 2025, he was arrested during a “hot pursuit” operation by the Pampanga Police and the Highway Patrol Group after he forcibly entered a cockpit arena, which led to his detention in Pampanga — where MPD Station 7 operatives later traced him.