8 more carjack groups monitored

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila Police District is closely monitoring the illegal activities of at least eight more active carjack groups operating in Metro Manila and nearby provinces following the recent arrest of 10 alleged members of two well-entrenched syndicates in a raid in Valenzuela City.

This developed as the MPD released yesterday an artist sketch of one of the leaders identified only as a certain Gerry, who is believed being coddled by influential personalities.

Sta. Cruz police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut identified three of the active carjack groups as the Dominguez Gang, the Mac-Mac Reyes Gang and the Ricky Gang, who are believed being financed by a certain Doña of Angeles, Pampanga.

Yabut said the Domiguez Gang simultaneously strikes in three groups in Quezon City, Makati, San Juan and Central Luzon to confuse authorities.

The gang buys wrecked cars from insurance companies and employs the “cut and weld” method on chassis of stolen luxury vehicles to be replaced on completely assembled cars.

Mac-Mac Reyes was able to elude a recent dragnet set up by the Traffic Management Group in Balagtas, Bulacan, Yabut said. Some members of the Ricky Gang are reportedly engaged in car insurance.

Police believe the carjack gangs will temporarily lay low for a while following the neutralization of the Bonifacio and Salvatierra carjack groups. However, Yabut said these gangs will be active again since they are being used by some politicians to finance their campaigns.

Yabut called on the government to put “more teeth” on the present anti-carnapping law to be able to stop the syndicates. “Police should be given absolute power to investigate buyers of chop-chop and totally wrecked vehicles,” Yabut said. He proposes that all vehicle parts should bear serial numbers for easy identification by the owners.         

Moreover, the investigation into possible connection of some police or military men and personnel of the Land Transportation Office with the Bonifacio and Salvatierra gangs is back to square one after the cell phone numbers of the gangs’contact persons ceased to function following the arrest of the members.

According to Yabut, based on tactical document analysis the syndicate has been coordinating with one “Sgt. Nicko” and another with codename “LTO 1” in their day-to-day operations.

The Bonifacio and Salvatierra gangs are allegedly responsible for a series of carjacking in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. “The gangs are notorious for forcibly taking away sports utility vehicles at gunpoint, and would directly drive away the vehicle at their hideout where the vehicle is reassembled and sold to their contact buyers,” he said.