Alleged hitman charged for illegal gun, drugs

By Felipe V. Celino

ROXAS CITY, Capiz – A self-confessed “gun-for-hire” who was arrested Monday evening in a buy-bust operation conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) at lsla Bonita in Barangay Tanque here was charged Tuesday afternoon for illegal gun possession and illegal drugs peddling.

Arnel Villareña, of legal age and resident of Brgy. Pasugue Panitan, Capiz was sued for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) and RA 10951 (Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act) before the City Prosecutors’ Office here.

He is presently detained at the CIDG station.

Recovered from Villena were a .45-caliber pistol with 6 live ammunitions, 4 sachets of suspected shabu, P26,336 marked money including fake bills, a sling bag, and a coin purse.

Villena denied owning the recoveries or using illegal drugs. He even challenged the operatives to test him to prove his claim. He, however, flunked the test.

In a media interview, Villareña confessed that he was hired by somebody to shoot a businessman on Wednesday, Oct. 5, somewhere in Iloilo for a P120,000 reward.

He also admitted that he was the one that shot a minor boy recently at Sitio Bankiling in Brgy. Tiza here.

The 16-year-old boy victim suffered a gunshot wound in the hand.

Reports indicated that Villena was a former security guard and was jailed for killing a fellow security guard.

But he allegedly escaped from jail in 2019 and went into hiding in Luzon.