Car theft prevention tips from a carjacker

MANILA, Philippines - A confessed carjacker, 21-year-old Edelberto Marteja, has given some tips for motorists to secure their vehicles against criminals like himself.

In an interview last Sunday, two days after he was arrested in Quezon City along with three other alleged members of the Marteja-Briones carjacking gang, he narrated how they broke into parked vehicles and which cars are in demand among their buyers.

While he maintains that he is not the leader of the group the police named after him and Francis Briones, Quezon City Police District (QCPD) officials said he is one of the group’s main players.

According to Marteja, it is easy for them to break into vehicles released in 1997 and earlier.

For Marteja – who went from being a driver for the group to breaking into parked cars in a matter of months – all he needed was a flat screwdriver and what he called his “diskarte.”

There were times during the interview when Marteja would remember certain moments in their hits. His face would light up and he would blurt, “Ang galing (That was great)!”

Marteja said once he is inside the vehicle, all it takes for him to start the engine is a pick, a key to another car or the same screwdriver. This is because the ignition keys of most vehicles of older models are already worn, losing the contours inside them that are supposed to match those of the vehicles’ keys, said Superintendent Ferdinand Villanueva, head of the QCPD’s anti-carnapping unit.

Villanueva said one way to secure these types of vehicles is to use a lock to immobilize their steering wheels. Marteja, however, said there are cases when these locks could be sawn off.

Marteja said if a vehicle is scheduled for long-term parking, the owner should remove the vehicle’s battery.

“There was a time when we were already inside the car but we couldn’t start it. We found out its battery wasn’t there,” he said with a chuckle.

As for motorcycles, one way to secure them is to temporarily remove their capacitator discharge ignitions (CDIs). He said he once owned a Yamaha Mio motorcycle and this was exactly what he did so it would not be stolen.

Marteja also revealed the types of vehicles “favored” by their clients – the ones whose plate numbers start in N or P or those that are still for registration. He said cars with plates starting in N or P are the ones released in 2009, 2010 and 2011, and are deemed newer models, while those that are for registration can be easily sold because they cannot be easily spotted as “hot cars.”

Villanueva said they have been repeatedly saying these tips, but many motorists still fall victim to car thieves. He hopes that with Marteja’s statements, motorists would believe that these tips could help protect their vehicles.