The “Alvin Flores Armed Robbery Group” had ready buyers of their loot even before they perpetrated robberies as the bureau was set to file charges against the member who was arrested during an operation by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that led to the killing of its leader and three others in Cebu last Thursday.

Suspect Rene Batiencela, a key player of the group, was arrested during the operation. He has an outstanding warrant of arrest for illegal firearms issued by Judge Alma Crispina Collado Lacorte of Caloocan City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 51. The NBI is set to inquest him anytime on November 3 at the Makati Prosecutor’s Office in connection with the Greenbelt 5 heist.

Batiencela is now detained at the NBI jail. He will be charged for his involvement in the Rolex Store Robbery Heist in Greenbelt 5, Makati City along with the robbery incidents in four warehouses in Pasig City and the robbery attempt in the Pepsi Cola depot in Tayuman, Manila

A source from the NBI who refused to be named said the leader Alvin Flores and his men had ready buyers even before they perpetrated the robberies and they managed to immediately dispose their loot-mostly expensive Tudor and other expensive items. In 2008 alone, the syndicate robbed 26 establishments all over the country and robbed items and mostly safety vaults containing cash.

“They managed to dispose their loot even on the same day after they carried out their robbery. They have ready buyers and we are determining who these people are; who were their ready buyers,” the source said.

The NBI continued to track down the remaining members to prevent them from taking over the syndicate but the bureau refused to give the progress of their follow-up operations as it was treated confidential to avoid leakage.

NBI Director lawyer Nestor M. Mantaring said his men continued to hunt down other suspects who were not at the hiding place at the time the NBI men swooped down on their lair.

The NBI continued its monitoring to make sure to get all the remaining members to prevent them from taking over the syndicate.

Mantaring identified the slain leader as Alvin Flores, with aliases “Bunso,” “Lester,” “Engineer Dave Maceda,” “Marvin Santos Yao,” “Danilo Flores,” of 41 Longos St., Malolos, Bulacan.

Also killed were Flores’s right hand, Richie Gigante Hijapon, alias “Dodong,” alias “John Paul Cruz Monteverde,” of Dapdap, Kinatarkan, Santa Fe, Cebu; Marc Alejandro Bondoc Salamanca, alias “Joseph,” native of Isabela; and Roger Sanchez, alias “Francisco Deladia y Bajo, alias “Tulig” of Milaor, Camarines Sur.

The operation was carried out after Mantaring ordered a manhunt against Flores and his group following the daring Rolex store heist in Greenbelt 5, Makati City.

The NBI Task Force Against Armed Robbery Group (TFAAROG) led by the Reaction, Arrest and Interdiction Division (RIAD) and the NBI Central Visayas Regional Office (CEVRO) pursued the trail left by these outlaws.

TFAAROG headed by lawyer Roel Bolivar, chief of RAID, tracked down the group from Antipolo to Bulacan to Pampanga, ending up in Mandaue City , Cebu where one of the members of group was spotted.