Police authorities have arrested a suspected murderer from Mindoro who had been on the run for nearly seven years, using sophisticated intelligence gathering that led to his capture, authorities said Monday.

Alvin Alvares, 28, was apprehended in Sitio Sta. Mesa, Barangay Babangunan, Victoria town in Oriental Mindoro, after being wanted for the 2018 murder of Rogelio Rempilio in Lucena City, Quezon.

Col. Frankie C. Candelario, officer-in-charge of the Philippine National Police Intelligence Group (PNP-IG), told reporters that a carefully developed “intelligence packet” helped track down the suspect, who carried a P135,000 peso bounty from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

A non-bailable arrest warrant was originally issued by Judge Romeo Buenaventura of the Lucena City Regional Trial Court on April 14, 2019, shortly after the murder.

The arrest was a collaborative effort between the PNP-IG’s Counter-Intelligence Division and the Police Regional Office 4-B, led by Brig. Gen. Roger L. Quesada, manifesting the persistent efforts of the PNP to apprehend long-standing criminal suspects.

Alvares, a resident of Barangay Lumang Bayan in Calapan City, had successfully evaded capture for six years and 10 months before the intelligence-led operation resulted in his arrest.