Stolen cargo truck recovered in Malabon

Operatives of the Northern Police District (NPD) recovered a stolen cargo truck though most of its P3.3-million coffee cargo were already missing onWednesday afternoon in a squatters’ colony in Malabon City.

NPD-District Police Intelligence Unit agents and the Malabon City police operatives found the cargo truck, with license plate CMN-654, abandoned in a vacant lot at Samlet Compound, Sitio Dulong Asogue, Barangay Tugatog at around 4 p.m.

One of the two container vans the truck was carrying was totally looted while the other van remained padlocked but half of its load were also missing when police recovered it yesterday.

NPD director Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil said the cargo truck was reported stolen at its garage inside the Harbor Center on R-10 in Tondo last March 27.

The cargo truck, driven by Rene Sabuero, brought the two 20-foot container vans at the CY7 Sulpicio Lines Container Yard at Honorio Lopez Boulevard in Tondo at around 4 a.m. on March 26.

The driver was supposed to bring the cargo to the provinces the next day, but when Sabuero returned to the garage, his truck with its cargo of coffee products was nowhere to be found.

Malabon City police chief Senior Superintendent Moises Guevarra gathered that at around 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, at least eight unidentified men, using acetylene torches, were seen opening up a container van still attached to a cargo truck in a squatters’ area in Barangay Tugatog.

Operatives from the NPD-DPIU led by Superintendent Jimili Macaraeg and the Malabon City police headed by Senior Inspector Roland Mabbun went to the area but the suspects were already gone.

The truck and what remains of its cargo were turned over yesterday to Jesus Competente, operations manager of NLT Trucking Services which owns the stolen cargo truck. — Pete Laude