Monday, April 07, 2008 Some gov't agencies allow carnapping: police By Carlo P. Mallo
IT CAN be a case of being lax in its personnel and operations or it can be a case of being infiltrated by crime syndicates.
Whatever it is, it has long been an open secret among those who know the car industry, these people even know where to go or whom to contact when they need a car of dubious origin registered.
Even Police Regional Director Andres Caro II alludes to this in an interview Friday after the seizure of 25 luxury cars, five of which were confirmed carnapped while the 20 others had spurious registration documents.
"Definitely, there were some government agencies that have lapses," Caro said in an interview Friday.
Caro also said that some government agencies are already being investigated for "legitimizing" the "hot cars."
"These vehicles were registered here in Davao City, despite being on the watch list and having spurious documents," Caro said.
At least 25 "hot cars," mostly luxury vehicles with prices ranging from P1.5 million to P2 million, were seized by operatives of the Traffic Management Group last Thursday from various places in Davao City.
Five of the 25 vehicles were confirmed to have been carnapped in Metro Manila, while the other 20 have spurious documents, tampered engine numbers, and fake license plates.
Sleeping agencies
But despite the various flaws in the documents of the seized "hot cars," these vehicles were still able to obtain a legitimate registration here in Davao City or were able to leave the ports of Manila.
Caro said these vehicles would have not made their way to Davao City or to any other place if only government agencies were vigilant enough to watch the entry and exit of these vehicles from the various points of entry and exit in the country.
"Some agencies might be sleeping," Caro said.
The vehicles, according to an operative of the Traffic Management Group, were most likely shipped from port to port.
Anti-fencing
"The third party owners of the 25 seized vehicles are not yet off the hook as they will still be subject to an investigation," Caro added.
"They might be in violation of the anti-fencing law," Caro added.
Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent Jose Jorge Corpuz, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said in a separate interview Friday that they are already investigating the possible charges that will be filed against the third owners of the vehicles or those who bought the vehicles here in Davao City.
"We are still investigating," Corpuz said.
However, the names of the owners of the vehicles have been withheld pending the investigation being conducted.
Syndicate
In an interview with the leader of the operatives of the Traffic Management Group, who requested anonymity, he said there is a national network of syndicates and distributors behind the proliferation of the "hot cars."
He added that at least five big syndicate groups compose the national chain, from the carnapping to the sale of the vehicles.
"We already have suspected groups, and we cannot yet divulge them," the operative added.
However, the operative opted to keep mum when asked if some high-ranking government officials are involved in the operation of the syndicate groups.
