EDITORIAL - Carjacking on the rise

Suspected carjackers have been gunned down by law enforcers and car theft gangs are suspected to be responsible for the brutal murders of at least two car dealers in recent years. But the deadly violence does not seem to have dampened the illegal enterprise.

Records from the police Highway Patrol Group show that vehicular thefts nationwide in the first six months of the year nearly doubled from the same period in 2013. Of the 3,170 cases reported from January to June this year, 2,866 involved the theft of motorcycles. The rest were cars, vans and other four-wheeled vehicles.

The theft of motorcycles can also facilitate the commission of crimes. The motorcycle has become the getaway vehicle of choice these days, with murderers, armed robbers and snatchers easily evading capture by fleeing on motorcycles. In the rare instances when the thugs use their own motorcycles with legitimate license plates, the numbers and letters are usually smudged and unreadable.

Carjacking thrives because there are ready buyers for both vehicles and spare parts. A notorious carjacking suspect, Mac Lester Reyes, was finally arrested recently after a stolen sport utility vehicle that his gang was reportedly using was followed by lawmen from a surplus shop in Quezon City’s Banawe area – considered a haven for car parts fences – to his lair in Caloocan City.

Police said Reyes eluded arrest for a long time by using his teenage son in his carjacking operations. Because of the Juvenile Justice Law, the son was always released even when apprehended for car thefts. The boy and his mother were killed in February by still unknown assailants.

Apart from using teenagers, carjacking rings also need a network of fences, garages for repainting and altering chassis and engine numbers, and cohorts in the Land Transportation Office for registration papers and new license plates. Unless these networks are broken up, gangs will keep popping up, ready to steal vehicles and spare parts.