INQUIRER Sports

MANILA -- Undercover policemen arrested five men, including a brother of an Army personnel, while allegedly selling overpriced tickets for the basketball game between De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University outside the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao on Sunday afternoon.

Arrested were Ferdinand Salantes, 31, of Bayanan, Muntinlupa City; Willy Javier, 43, a resident of Gen. Trias, Cavite; and Vicente Defensor, 49, of Commel Battalion, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

Also held in a separate police operation were Richard Crisostomo, 31, a resident of Cavite, and Rudy Nalangan, 27, of Antipolo City.

Seized from them were three general admission tickets, with a face value of P75 each, which they were selling for P1,500 each.

The five were immediately brought to the headquarters of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) in Camp Karingal.

Supt. Franklin Moises Mabanag, chief of QCPD Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU), said the suspects were arrested in separate entrapment operations before the tip off between Ateneo and Las Salle around 4 p.m.

He said several teams of plainclothes QCPD personnel were deployed in the area to prevent scalpers from taking advantage of the blockbuster championship series between the two collegiate basketball teams.

Ateneo de Manila University won game 1 over De La Salle in their best-of-three final series, on Sunday.