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MANILA, Philippines — It’s the time to show off the fruits of last week’s anti-carnapping operation of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) in Cebu City.
Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte described the anti-car theft operation as a “terrific piece of police work” as he revealed that he has been particularly concerned about car theft incidents in the locality.
“For the past 10 days, I have been keeping a close track on this thing (car thefts). Every time, I would ask Colonel (Magtanggol) Gatdula for any development,” he said.
The Quezon City policemen literally went over land and sea to retrieve 13 stolen sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and sedans, which have reportedly been shipped to and sold in Cebu City.
QCPD Anti-Carnapping (QCPD-Ancar) units, led by Inspector Angelo Nicolas, recovered the stolen vehicles from a residential compound in Barangay (village) Tisa, Cebu City.
The recovered vehicles were a white Hyundai Starex van; a silver Mitsubishi Lancer; a white Isuzu Hilander; a white Nissan Sentra; a silver Mitsubishi Adventure; a Nissan Urvan; a blue Hyundai Starex; a gold Toyota Revo; a green Isuzu Hilander; a white Mitsubishi L-300 van; a Toyota Hi-Ace; a white Toyota Fortuner; and a blue and white Delica van.
Nicolas told the Inquirer that the group responsible for amassing the virtual “showroom” of stolen vehicles has been operating for several years, particularly in Quezon City, and has been disposing their goods in Cebu City.
He explained that shipments of stolen vehicles were not usually detected at the ports because officials there usually have no means of ascertaining if the documents presented are fake.
“If the shipment owner presents an official receipt or a certificate of registration, that usually suffices for port officers who cannot tell if the details written there match the vehicle," Nicolas said.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula, QCPD chief, said the raid conducted by operatives of the QCPD-Ancar was the result of intelligence gathering operations by the district operations division, the district police intelligence and intelligence operation unit, and the regional intelligence division of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).
Gatdula revealed that the information on the activities of the syndicate was confirmed after the arrest of suspect Joseph Burt Cañete, 34, of Barangay (village) Tisa in Cebu City.
Cañete was spotted on July 28 driving a Hyundai Starex van (plate no. ZJM-154) along Katipunan Avenue in Cebu City.
The QCPD chief said the same van Cañete was driving had been reported stolen from Quezon City on April 21.
Anti-car theft operatives immediately sought a search warrant for Cañete's “warehouse” from Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 104 Judge Thelma Ponferrada.
Cañete was turned over to the PRO-7 for thorough investigation to name his cohorts in the car theft ring.
With the accomplishments of the police district, Mayor Belmonte expressed hope that the city would shed its notorious title of being the “carnap capital.” /Inquirer
