After Devon, Thomas, and Andres finished removing the organ-harvesting cells surrounding and including Manila, they decided to take a day off to rest and recharge their batteries. They went swimming, snorkeling, and even took out their rental boat for a ride up the coast of Luzon. They even treated themselves to a meal at a nice restaurant, Devon’s treat.
The Peak
A beautiful collision of a grill restaurant, speakeasy, whisky bar, and a music lounge, The Peak will take you from dining, to drinks, to an exceptional experience of the high life.
Dining at the PeakRestaurant was a great way to wrap up a very enjoyable and refreshing day. The a la carte menu was simply extraordinary.
The next day, the team found themselves at a crossroads. They had taken out all the individuals who were responsible for kidnapping all of the organ-harvesting victims, but they still had not cut the head off the snake. They hadn’t yet removed the top officials, and they hadn’t even scratched the surface of the medical industry that allowed this to happen, possibly even encouraged it. What with transplant vacations for the wealthy. One thing was for sure: if they did not take out the top guys, all the work they had accomplished over the last several weeks would have been in vain.
Up to this point, despite all their research, they had been unable to determine who was behind the harvesting rings. They had all heard Octavio blurt out the name Black Dawn, but how could that be? Devon and Burak, His deceased friend, had virtually wiped out that European cartel. Just maybe some of the answers were inside the two captured laptops and the countless files and papers that they had collected at the last four cells. One thing was for sure: it was going to take a lot of effort and time to get through all this material. Accessing the laptops was going to take expertise that they didn’t have. The only thing they could do was to contact the Vatican to see if a couple of their IT guys, and maybe a forensic accountant, could also be loaned to them.
Thomas called Archbishop Peter Ignastius to give him not only an update but to ask for further help. The Archbishop was pleased with all of the progress that they had made. When Thomas explained all the information they had collected and the help they would need, he immediately agreed to send the requested help. He also agreed to send Archbishop Peter Ignatius’s personal secretary, Elena Lombardi, to help organize and sift through all the papers they had collected.
In the meantime, our intrepid trio began reviewing the papers as best they could. At least Andres spoke and read Tagalog, to look through documents that weren’t in English. While they did not understand all the medical jargon in some of the papers they came across, they were able to discern a recurring pattern of names that kept appearing. After a full day of reviewing some of the documents, they felt they had a relatively comprehensive list of the medical professionals responsible for the organ harvesting. They still wanted to wait for the IT staff to see what the laptop computers had to show before deciding how to proceed. When they began this mission, they had all agreed that they wouldn’t target the medical personnel, but after reviewing these documents, it became evident that some of them were as bad, if not worse, than the cell members they had already taken out.
Below is a partial list of some of the individuals that they came across:
-Dr. Robert Yabut–surgeon responsible for removing the organs from the victims
-Dr. Raymart Yabut–Anesthesiologist responsible for sedating the organ harvesting victims and brother of Dr. Robert Yabut
-Arturo Forcuna–responsible for finding recipients for the harvested organs
All these people were aware that these organs were not obtained from volunteers or deceased people. Therefore, they were as culpable as the rest of the organ-harvesting ring.
Devon had to remind Thomas and Andres that now that four more people were going to be joining them, one being a woman, they would need to find a bigger place. Finally, after spending hours looking through the ads, they were able to find a fully furnished rental house that would accommodate the ever-growing team.
Unfortunately, there was no place to park the boat, so they returned the rental boat and threw in the inflatable for good measure. At least they got to use it once,
Fully Furnished 4 Bedroom House For Rent In Las Piñas, Manila
Sanvesco 1 San Antonio Valley 7, Las Piñas, Metro Manila, Philippines 1747
Devon, Thomas, and Andres spent the rest of the day making the appropriate arrangements and moving to their new rental house, which was across town. They also had to rent a multiseat cargo van to hold everybody.
They chose a 2020 NV350 Premium S full size van.
While the Urvan Premium is a legitimate 13-seater, it’s ideal for long-distance travel. Ceiling and floor LED lights help enhance the upscale look and feel of the interior—the captain seats, which recline, slide, and rotate for unparalleled seating flexibility, are upholstered in high-quality leather. Rear occupants are even treated to first-class accommodations by a space that no other van can come close to, which can accommodate even a removable table for those family memories while traveling.
Is it hype or is it real? Only time will tell. The advertisement claimed 13 occupancy, so it should be able to handle seven people comfortably.
The next day, they met their new team members at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Since they did not know how much luggage the team was going to bring, they drove both vans to the airport.
Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Baggage Claims Terminal
Arrigo Li Fonti, Elena Lombardi, Giuliano Beneventi, and Luigi Cantu
Thomas, Devon, and Andres met their new teammates at the Manila airport baggage claims terminal and assisted them with collecting all of their luggage. As expected, the IT guys had a lot of gear, as did the forensic accountant. Surprisingly, Mrs. Elena Lombardi, the only woman, had the least amount of luggage. Devon asked them if they wanted to stop and get a bite to eat before they went to the rental house, and they declined. They had eaten two meals on the plane, and the only thing they wanted to do was to get some sleep. So they quickly loaded them into the two vans and headed back to their new rental home.
Early the next morning, Andres got up before the rest of the team and went to a 24-hour supermarket to stock the empty refrigerator and pantry with groceries. He also stopped by the Butterboy Bakeshop to pick up buttery croissants and pain au chocolat to gradually break in the new team members to the tropics. They were, after all, doing them a big favor by coming to the Philippines to help them sort through all of the material they had collected.
Butterboy Bakeshop
Over the next two weeks, the team worked through not only the laptop computers, thanks to the expertise of the IT techs and all of the financial papers that the forensic accountant was able to sort out, and also Elena for organizing everything and making sure that everything was collated and documented. When they finally finished going through everything, they had a paper trail that exposed a corrupt medical facility and several surgeons and staff members. Which reinforced the information that Devon, Thomas and Andres had previously discovered. They were also able to discover who the head of the organ harvesting gang was in the Philippines was along with his number two man:
-Emilio Changco–Leader of the Organ Harvesting Gang (ORG)
-Marvin Mercado–Number 2 of the ORG
The team now had enough information to pursue the top individuals of the harvesting gang. Video footage of the organ harvesting procedures performed by several surgeons, where they were taking out the hearts and livers of perfectly healthy individuals, was discovered on the laptops. The evidence they uncovered was so damning that they had no choice but to conclude that the responsible medical staff needed to be held accountable for their actions. The documents and the laptops not only incriminated several people, but they also blazed a trail right to their front doors. It makes you wonder why this information was not destroyed. Was it part of a blackmailing scheme that did not come to fruition, or was it an insurance policy of some kind? Regardless of the reasons that it was preserved, the team was all too willing to act upon it.
Emilio Changco–Leader of the Organ Harvesting Gang (ORG) Apartment
Marvin Mercado–Number 2 of the ORG villa
I have included some photos of where the two top members of the organ harvesting gangs lived. Obviously, they were getting money from other sources as well. Drugs, prostitution, and sex trafficking. After discovering where Emilio lived, taking him out there was simply not an option. They would have to assassinate him when he was on the road somewhere. Going after Marvin at home was a much more viable option, so they opted to take him out first. Devon and Andres took turns watching the activities of Marvin and surveilling his house for the next two days while Thomas continued to coordinate the activities of the rest of the team back at their rental villa. Finally, they worked out a plan to assault his house. Because all of his doors were glass, they decided to tackle all three entrances utilizing glass cutters, whereupon they would simultaneously enter his house and proceed to his quarters.
Except for any guards that may be in the house, the only person they planned on killing was Marvin; the rest of the inhabitants were presumed to be innocents and therefore not to be harmed. Anybody else they came across would be gagged, blindfolded, and zip-tied. Any small children would be left untouched. So as not to wake up any of the other people in the house, knives and garrotes would be used. They, of course, had their trusty Desert Eagles with them just in case. Because Marvin was a single man, the likelihood of any children being present was minimal, and, in fact, during Devon’s and Andres’s surveillance, no children had been seen entering or leaving the premises. With the exception of the house cleaning staff, they hadn’t even seen a single female on the premises, which begs the question of what his preferences were. But that is neither here nor there. The task at hand was to quickly and efficiently terminate Marvin. After entering the house, they encountered only one bodyguard, who was otherwise preoccupied making a sandwich in the kitchen, and presented no problem at all. Despite the lack of security, the team did not become complacent; they checked every room before proceeding to the master suite, where they found Marvin sleeping alone on his king-sized bed. Despite their original plans to use a knife to slit his throat or to strangle him with a garrote, they decided to just finish him off with the silenced Desert Eagle.
Despite all the data they had previously collected, they still had not uncovered any additional information about this gang’s ties to the Black Dawn, which bothered Devon. After taking out Marvin, the team proceeded to his office, where they found another laptop and a two-drawer filing cabinet. Anticipating the possibility of encountering some intelligence, the three men had all brought black canvas duffel bags, which they proceeded to fill with the laptop and all the documents from the cabinet. Because the house was simply amazing, they did not have the heart to torch it and simply exited out the back door via the pool.
After watching the comings and goings of Emilio Changco, it was discovered that he had a routine. Once a week he would go out to gamble at one of the many gambling dens in Manila. This is the one time that he allowed himself ro let his guard down. Because he wanted the freedom of movement, only his driver and one bodyguard accompanied him on these nights.
I don’t usually show graphic photos in my books, but in this case, I will make an exception. Emilio was responsible for literally the deaths of hundreds of innocent people, whether it be through drug harvesting, drug overdoses, or through human trafficking. As you can see in the photo below, our team made short work of Emilio. I have not included the details of this hit because, frankly, if I included the details of every criminal that our team carried out, the book would not only be inordinately long, it would also become boring. I have already grown weary of writing about all of them myself. So I am going to gloss over the rest of the criminals that they take out.
After a great deal of deliberation, it was decided to limit their retribution just to the surgical team that was responsible for the harvesting operations. It was decided that they were the only ones who really knew the full extent of their crimes. They saw healthy people being put under the knife and their organs being removed from their bodies. While the rest of the staff may have known of the actual operations, they had some form of deniability. However, the people responsible for discarding the bodies were not getting a pass. They were culpable. While it is true that there were several cells for the collection of the victims, there was only one surgical team responsible for all the surgeries. It was originally thought by the team that there were multiple surgical teams, but it was soon discovered that finding highly trained medical staff willing to perform this type of work was very difficult, and thus the organ harvesting gang had to settle with utlizing the services of just one team that traveled from one location to another.
-Dr. Robert Yabut–Surgeon responsible for removing the organs from the victims
-Dr. Raymart Yabut–Anesthesiologist responsible for sedating the organ harvesting victims and brother of Dr. Robert Yabut
-Dr. Yardan Contreras–Surgical Assistant
-Estrella Alferez–Scrub Nurse
-Aquilino Credo–Surgical Tech
-Jedrek Razon–Orderly responsible for disposing of the bodies
-Trent Ariola–2nd Orderly responsible for disposing of the bodies
Over the following week, these people were tracked down and eliminated with ruthless efficiency. Their elimination presented no difficulty whatsoever. Even the dispatching of the scrub nurse presented no moral dilemma for the team; she knew what she was doing when she agreed to participate in these surgeries. While Devon, Thomas, and Andres wrapped up their operation in the Philippines, the rest of the team continued to delve into the new information uncovered at Marvin’s villa. God only knows what invaluable information there was at Emilio’s apartment. But you can’t cry over spilled milk.