THE Highway Patrol Group (HPG) Cordillera has reminded the public on the proliferation of stolen vehicles sold to the public.
HPG-Cordillera Director Lieutenant Colonel Joe Wilson Denamorca explained groups have shifted operations in the Cordillera.
“During the pandemic, we had cases of these. Although we were able to recover the vehicles, these are the modus of some groups coming from outside our area. The first thing that they do is to rent out the vehicle and, if the owner of the vehicle is not careful, these vehicles will be mortgaged to other persons, to which we recovered two vehicles in Region I (Ilocos Region) recently,” Denamorca said.
The Regional Highway Patrol Chief said persons who were mortgaged of the vehicles were unaware that the said vehicles are only rented.
Another modus by groups is mortgaging vehicles to victims and, after payment is made, the vehicle would be recovered by police operatives through global positioning system (GPS).
“The lesson here is for everybody to be careful because there are many groups doing this,” the regional Highway Patrol chief said.
Based on HPG-Cordillera data, three motor vehicles and four motorcycles were stolen from January to August 2020. In 2019, nine motor vehicles and 31 motorcycles were reported stolen.
Accordingly, police were able to recover 12 motor vehicles and seven motorcycles. Of the 19 recovered, five motor vehicles and motorcycles were stolen from other regions but recovered in the Cordillera.
“Every stolen or lost vehicle is being followed up, we have a dedicated manhunt team with the sole purpose of tracking down carnappers and stolen vehicles, which is the number one mandate of the Highway Patrol," Denamorca said.
"Not included in our data are ten warrants of arrest against individuals involved in carnapping that we successfully arrested, which is why we encourage the public to inform the Highway Patrol on the circumstances of a vehicle being sold to them to prevent from being a victim of these groups modus,” he added.
HPG-Cordillera has reminded those who are renting out their vehicles to always b cautious to prevent from being victimized by unscrupulous groups.