Cops bust motorcycle theft syndicate

MANILA, Philippines - Police busted yesterday a carjack syndicate allegedly responsible for motorcycle thefts in Metro Manila in a series of raids in Marikina and Quezon City.

Sta. Cruz police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut said the neutralization of the syndicate was an offshoot of a directive of Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and Manila Police District director Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay to solve the rampant motorcycle thefts in the city. Yabut tasked his men to be on alert for motorcyclists riding in tandem.

At around 12:30 a.m. yesterday along C.M. Recto Avenue, members of the Station Reaction Group spotted two motorcycles with drivers and a back rider not wearing helmets and ignoring traffic lights. When accosted, the drivers – Jobon Tolentino, 22, and Thomas Fontanoza, 20 – failed to present their driver’s license, and Tolentino yielded an improvised picklock. The drivers and the 17-year-old back rider were brought to the police station for interrogation.

Tolentino admitted that the recovered picklock is used in the syndicate’s carjacking activities. He also identified two brothers, aged 17 and 18 years old, as the buyers of the stolen motorcycles.

Yabut said the investigation gained headway when the 17-year-old buyer called on Tolentino’s cell phone, asking if they have stolen motorcycles available for sale. The two buyers were arrested in an entrapment in Barangay Concepcion, Marikina.

They also pointed to another 18-year-old as their buyer who reportedly shipped the stolen motorcycles to Visayas and Mindanao. He was arrested in Culiat, Quezon City in a separate police operation.

A 16-year-old gang member, who reportedly acted as the spotter and driver of stolen motorcycles, was the last to be arrested in a follow-up operation in Sampaloc.

The series of operation also resulted in the recovery of six branded motorcycles.

At the police station, a certain Renato Galicia identified a red Suzuki Rider as his motorcycle that was stolen along Quezon Boulevard on Feb. 20. Another owner, Joel Cortez, identified a black Yamaha Mio Sporty as his own which was stolen while parked in Quezon City on Feb. 27.

Yabut said they are trying to find out who are financing the gang and the extent of its members’ criminal activities.