GMA News reported that the arrested group who all hail from Benguet province spent about two months surveying the pawnshop located along Villongco Street in Barangay Commonwealth, all the while digging a tunnel leading to it. The same report described the tunnel as about 20 meters long. The group rented an apartment nearby and used it as headquarters and starting point of the tunnel.
Jenny Alvior, owner of the apartment rented by the group, said she never suspected that her renters were doing something amiss. Furthermore, she thought there were only two people renting the place, not eight, as she only saw two people going in and out of the place.
From the same report by GMA News, Senior Superintendent Roberto Fajardo of CIDG made the impression that they've subjected the group under surveillance for some time. A member of the gang who was arrested one week earlier helped out in the operation.
"Actually, tulong-tulong to. Hindi namin kakayanin to kung kami lang. At the same time may nagturo din na mga sibilyan na galing pang Baguio." said Fajardo.
These eight members of the gang are the second group to be arrested this year. Last January 6, two other members were arrested in Sta. Cruz, Manila.
The latest reported pawnshop to have been robbed by the Acetylene Gang is the Cagayan De Oro Pawnshop in Baguio City which they robbed late last year. They were also tagged with the foiled robbery of the Maria Gracia Pawnshop in Roxas City in Capiz province.
