CAUAYAN CITY – Approximately ₱30 million worth of jewelry, gold bars, and cash were stolen by the notorious “Termite Gang” in a pawnshop located in Barangay Centro East, Santiago City, Isabela.
In an interview with Bombo Radyo Cauayan, PCol. Saturnino Soriano, Public Information Officer of the Santiago City Police Office, said the heist was discovered when employees entered the shop and found a hole in the establishment with scattered wood fragments.
The police were immediately contacted and responded to process the crime scene. The pawnshop owner later confirmed that a significant amount of jewelry, gold bars, and foreign currency worth around ₱30 million had been stolen.
Authorities suspect the gang used specific methods to measure the exact location of the pawnshop from a nearby drainage canal, which served as their entry point.
It is believed the group spent two to three days tunneling through the pawnshop’s lobby floor to access the vault.
To avoid detection, the gang reportedly covered the CCTV cameras with black paint before removing the CCTV’s CPU.
Police believe the absence of security guards in the pawnshop during the crime may have allowed the group to execute the heist without interruptions.