MANILA - The leader of an organized crime group tagged in several robberies in Metro Manila and its outskirts was slain in a shootout with policemen in Cebu City, Thursday night.

Police said Alvin Flores, leader of the notorious Alvin Flores gang, was killed in an encounter with a joint team team from the police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) at the Tripina Ceneca Compound in Barangay Compostela around 8 p.m.

Three other members of the gang were also killed in the encounter, police said. Two of the fatalities were identified as Richie Hijapon and Mark Salamanca.

Philippine National Police chief Jesus Verzosa said another gang member identified as Rene Baiancela was arrested. He said the suspect was under tactical interrogation.

Medardo de Lemos, NBI regional director, said Flores's group arrived in Cebu on Sunday. He said the group came from Samar, where Flores had some relatives.

De Lemos said the NBI and police team stormed the compound armed with warrants of arrest for several robbery cases in Metro Manila.

He said Flores's group engaged the arresting in a shootout that resulted to their killing.

Police said the group has 6 more members at large.

Seized from the encounter site were an M16 rifle, one KG-9 submachine pistol, two .45 pistols and assorted ammunitions and a Toyota Revo owned by Flores.

Also seized from the cottage where the group stayed were several Rolex watches.

The group has been tagged by the police in the daring day-light robbery at Greenbelt 5 mall in Makati City. Armed men stormed a watch store and took several expensive watches.

Only one of the armed men died in a shootout with policemen during the robbery. The other robbers were able to escape from the mall as more policemen responded to the crime scene.

Nationwide manhunt
 

Verzosa said there was a nationwide manhunt launched by the police and other law enforcement agencies for the immediate capture of the rob gang leader.

He said that right after the brazen mall robbery in Makati City, he immediately formed several special investigation task groups, mainly composed of intelligence operatives, to hunt down Flores.

He said teams were particularly deployed in Central Luzon, Central Visayas and some part of Mindanao.

Flores's group usually wears police uniforms during heists.

Aside from the Makati mall robbery, the group has also been tagged in several warehouse and bank robberies in Metro Manila and other parts of the country. With reports from ABS-CBN Cebu and Noel Alamar, radio dzMM