By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

After posting bail earlier this year, suspected robbery group leader Johnnie Villarete was arrested again on robbery charges at a convenience store late Tuesday evening along CL Montelibano Avenue in Barangay Villamonte, Bacolod City.

Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) spokesperson, Police Senior Inspector Armilyn Vargas, said Villarete was arrested after his location was traced by Police Station 4 (PS4), the City Intelligence Unit (CIU), and the Bacolod City Mobile Force Company (BCMFC).

Vargas added, Villarete’s latest arrest warrant was issued by Judge Eduardo Sayson with bail recommended at P100,000.

Villarete, a former member of the ‘Aki Cuadra’ robbery group who formed his own criminal organization, was allegedly involved in a string of robbery incidents in Bacolod City and nearby towns and cities, including the shooting of an Israeli-national last year.

The suspect was arrested back in January in Barangay Bata after Judge Rosario Ester Orda issued an arrest warrant against him on illegal drug charges./DGB, WDJ