Editorial: Kudos

THE Davao City Police Office seems on a roll, busting criminals after criminals, the latest of which is the arrest of four minor members of the Ryan “Baktin” Yu carnapping syndicate and the raid of a bodega suspected to be the hiding place for carnapped vehicles by the group. Monday night.

Our police truly deserve our congratulations. The greater task we are waiting to be accomplished is the arrest and eventual incarceration of the syndicate leader.

Yu is not new in the news. He has figured a few times all because of carnapping. At one time almost a decade ago, he was even arrested for selling SUVs to prominent businessmen here. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth, however, that he remains at large until now.

Just ask any businessman in the Chinese community and they will know of Baktin, how he has been dealing carnapped vehicles throughout all these years and is seemingly doing so with impunity.

More unnerving is the statement of Davao City Police Office chief Ronald dela Rosa that Baktin apparently has an insider among the car distributors because they apparently have access to information about the vehicle owner as well as the keys. If that is proven true, then Baktin is more than just your run of the mill carnapper; rather, he is among the most sophisticated in terms of operations. The syndicate apparently not just goes around hunting for any random SUV or high-resale value car but going after a specific car, with the target’s key in their possession.

Thus, much as we are cheering on our local police for the strides they have been making in cutting down crime here, we are calling for even greater vigilance and wider intelligence network to finally arrest Baktin, keep him behind bars, and most of all, unmask those who are making his operations as sophisticated and far-reaching as it is now. In this regard, there is some wisdom in Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio’s suggestion that the four suspects arrested recently by the police be placed under witness protection program so that they can be enticed to spill everything they know to pin down Baktin.