Police tighten security at ro-ro ports

MANILA, Philippines - Police tightened security yesterday on all roll-on, roll-off (ro-ro) ports in Western Visayas to prevent the region from being used as dumping ground of stolen cars in Metro Manila.

Chief Superintendent Cipriano Querol Jr., Western Visayas police director noted that stolen cars in Metro Manila are reportedly transported to the region and Mindanao through the ro-ro ports.

Querol directed all police commanders to tighten security and also conduct strict intelligence monitoring on all ro-ro ports in the region.

“We have several ro-ro ports here and we also believe that crime syndicates involved in carjacking will likely exploit this channel to sneak in their stolen vehicles for distribution in the region,” Querol said.

He reiterated his directive to all police units to sustain the random checkpoint and chokepoint operations to net dealers of stolen cars and other criminal syndicates who might be operating in the region.

Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent Cesar Jacob, regional officer of Highway Patrol Group 6, reported that his office recovered seven stolen cars and eight motorcycles last year despite the fact there was no report of any car theft in Western Visayas.

Jacob said any report relative to carjacking may be made through PNP Text 2920, Patrol 117 and (02) 7261261.