Octavio Parojinog–Senior ORG henchman captured in Laoag Cell

Devon, Thomas, and Andres agreed that they would try to take a Senior gang member from the next cell if the opportunity presented itself. They would drug him to make him more compliant when he was on the Cessna and in the Jeepney. They were not sure what they would do with him after finishing the interrogation. They decided to cross that bridge when they came to it. It would depend on the type of person they captured. However, they were under no misconception that they would ultimately have to dispose of him permanently. There were already too many people aware of what they were doing, and the list seemed to grow daily.

House in a Laoag residential neighborhood controlled by the organ-harvesting gang

The next target was away from the city’s center. It was their second two-story building; however, it had a stairway allowing easier outdoor access to the second floor, so it would not be necessary for them to bring a ladder. It was also located too close to other houses, so burning the structure down to hide any evidence would not be possible. So they would have to be more careful. They were already wearing goggles and a mask as part of their head protection and night vision goggles, so there was no chance of the three men being identified. They would have to ensure their next jeepney was a little less garish than the previous one, so it would not attract too much attention. They also decided to have the driver stay in the vehicle as if waiting for a fare from the house. Andres must remember to tell Waldron, the pilot, about the changes. There was one more problem with assaulting a home in a residential neighborhood, and that was the noise of the gunfire. Even though their handguns had silencers, they were still quite noisy, and the sound from these weapons firing would surely attract unwanted attention from the sleeping neighbors. So as distasteful as it was, they were going to have to either take the gang members out with a garrote or cut their throats using the tactical knives they carried with them. Luckily, Devon had thought of this contingency, so he had added garrotes to the list at the last minute. Otherwise, finding them this late in the game would be problematic.

One more piece of business had to be addressed, and that was the drug that they were going to use to sedate one of the gang members for further questioning. There was a good chance that they could not take one alive, but they had to be at least prepared. This is where Andres’ seemingly inexhaustible list of contacts came in handy. He, of course, knew a pharmacist in Manila who had gambling problems and was always looking for ways to supplement his income. After consulting the Gulliver Pagaduan, the pharmacist decided that Ketamine was the best choice for an intramuscular injection (IM). Because of the extra planning involved in taking a gang member captive, they decided to take a day off from their schedule. Andres needed to get the drugs from his Pharmacist buddy. Because they had to protect the pharmacist from unwanted eyes, he had to wait until the pharmacy was closed and everyone had left, except for Gulliver. This was part of his routine anyway. He always stayed an extra hour after the rest of his staff punched out and left the pharmacy to finish his paperwork.

To make things easier, the pharmacist recommended that they utilize a much simpler formula, and that is to take the average weight of a male Filipino, which is 53kg. This would mean that they would be administering a 275mg dose or 5.5ml via the IM route. So Gulliver gave Andres ten 10cc syringes with 20-gauge IM needles and two vials of ketamine. “This should be enough to sedate several individuals and keep them calm.” He further recommended giving a lesser dose if Andres just wanted them to be more malleable, as he put it. When Andres returned to their rental house, he drew up six syringes, two for each. The second was purely for backup in case the gang member had built up a tolerance related to frequent drug use. However, it was uncommon for professional criminals like these organ harvesters to be drug addicts.

When the ketamine doses were drawn up, they further discussed the timing of the assault. Thomas thought that a day assault would attract less attention. There would already be noises in the neighborhood, such as lawnmowers, repairmen, and children playing. A jeepney pulling up to a house in the daytime might attract less attention than one pulling up at night. They wouldn’t need night vision gear either. With more background noise, the sound from their guns firing wouldn’t be as noticeable. That would eliminate the need for the use of knives and garrotes. They could also wear regular clothes with just their vests on underneath. They could use scarves to protect their identity. Devon and Andres had to admit that a daytime assault sounded very appealing. The only problem was that there was no guarantee that the gang members would even be home. They would most likely be out looking for victims. So, despite all the upsides of a daytime assault, they had to stay with the original nighttime plan, even with the distasteful prospects of cutting people’s throats.

With the plan firmly fixed, Andres called up Waldron and scheduled their flight time. He also told them to find a driver, if possible, with a less garish jeepney. The flight distance from Woodland Airpark to the Laoag International Airport was 395 km or a little over 245 miles so that the flying time would be approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. The neighborhood where the organ harvesting gang’s hideout was located was five miles from the airport, so they had another 15 to 20 minutes to allow for driving time.

Devon, Thomas, and Andres met Waldron at Woodland Airpark on schedule, as on the previous two occasions. This time, they wouldn’t be flying over water, just to the northern portion of the island of Luzon, where they were currently residing. While they could have driven to Laoag, it would be quite a drive, well over 7 hours. While it is legal to own and possess a gun, it is highly regulated. You must obtain a License to Own and Possess Firearms (LTOPF) and register each firearm with the Philippine National Police (PNP). Additionally, specific requirements like age, citizenship, and background checks must be met. The operative word here is that you need to be a citizen. Even Andres didn’t qualify for this requirement. As you can imagine, our team was operating outside of the law. If they were to get pulled over by the local constabulary, it would put them in quite a bind. Besides, even their body armor was illegal. This would, however, be their last trip with Waldron. The last five cells are substantially closer to their rental house, which obviates the need for a plane or a pilot.

When they arrived at the Laoag International Airport, a plain black jeepney with an ebullient driver was waiting for them. Apparently, good news traveled fast. I am sure that the cause for his demeanor was the prospect of a big payday. While it is true that they got what they wanted, the stark plainness of the jeepney actually made it stand out more than they had planned. However, it was too late to make a change. One thing was sure: you would have difficulty seeing it in the dark.

Their driver eagerly helped them load all of their gear onto the jeepney. The vehicle was a surprise, because it handled better than its looks belied. They soon arrived at their destination. When they were making their plans, Andres made the point that since the doors on the house were not of commercial grade, he would be able to use a much smaller charge to breach the doors, so the sound would be virtually imperceptible. That, of course, was welcome news, because even the slightest sound would stand out in the quiet and sleepy neighborhood.

The stairwell facilitated access to the second story, so Andres made quick work of planting the charges on the two doors. Because there were only two points of access, it was Andres’s job to find a likely gang member to drug and take alive. So he led the way on the second floor, where most of the members would be slumbering. He peeked in each room, and when he found what looked like the best choice, he notified Devon and Thomas by their comms that it was okay to move forward. On the count of three, they sprang forward like a well-oiled machine. It only took one IM injection from Andres to subdue his captive; he gagged the limp man and zip-tied his wrists and ankles. Once his captive was all secured, he checked on his teammates to see if they needed any help. They were both wrapping up their grizzly tasks, so he quickly grabbed his prisoner and did a quick fireman’s carry maneuver, and carried him out and downstairs to the jeepney, where Carlo the driver helped him load his cargo into the full-length backseat. To keep this series from becoming overly graphic, I have chosen not to describe in detail what Devon and Thomas had to do to finish off the gang members, suffice it to say that there was a lot of blood, as the slit each and every man’s throat. I will add that they received a better end than they deserved. This cell alone was responsible for countless deaths.

To keep Carlo’s mouth shut, Andres gave him the biggest payday yet for a jeepney driver: $1,500 USD. The driver swore on his mother’s eyes that he would not tell a soul what he had seen or what had happened there. Besides, the three men had made it a habit to use only their call signs when communicating on these assignments.

Waldron, being the consummate professional, did not say a word when Octavio Parojinog, the captive, was loaded onto the plane. Andres gave the captive a half-dose of the second Ketamine syringe to make sure that he didn’t wake up while the aircraft was in the air. When they finally arrived back at their rental home, Octavio woke up. (I know you may ask how they discovered his name, from his wallet, silly.) Andres and Devon carried him into the kitchen, where they sat him on one of the straight-backed chairs there. Andres took out the gag from Octavio’s mouth and held the machete near his throat. Andres told the captive that he could yell all he wanted, but it would do no good, because they had no neighbors.

Andres proceeded to question the recalcitrant captive, but despite several hours of interrogating him, they were no further ahead than when he was captured. Finally, Andres said they would have to resort to waterboarding. Andres had to admit that he was a tough man to make talk, it took over 30 minutes of waterboarding to finally break the man. Besides giving them the names of the gang members they had already killed at the last cell, which was useless information, he said one bone-chilling name, at least for Devon, which was Black Dawn.

Finally, it became evident that Octavio had nothing of any value to add. After a quick deliberation, Andres, Devon, and Thomas agreed that he was beyond redemption. So Andres gave him a lethal dose of Ketamine straight into his jugular vein. Devon and Thomas carried him to the bathroom, putting him in the bathtub. Meanwhile, Andres drove over to a local grocery store and purchased several bags of ice to keep Octavio’s body from decomposing. The easiest thing to do was to dump his body at the next cell they hit, where they would put a few slugs in him to make it look like he was part of that gang.