Dismissed Police Lt. Col. Rafael Dumlao was arrested before dawn Tuesday in Quezon City after a three-week surveillance operation.
Dumlao, whose acquittal in the 2016 killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo was reversed by the Court of Appeals and affirmed by the Supreme Court, had been in hiding since June 2025. He was taken into custody around 5 a.m. in Barangay Pasong Tamo, where officers found him with a 9mm pistol registered under another name. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the operation was triggered by an informant tip and included monitoring around Dumlao's daughter's wedding last Sunday. The arrest followed proper legal procedures, Remulla added, with Dumlao's rights read to him on site. The case stems from Jee's abduction on Oct. 18, 2016, during an antidrug operation, after which he was strangled and his body cremated. Dumlao faces multiple sentences of reclusion perpetua and must pay damages to Jee's family.
