Police continue search for car theft gang leader

The Valenzuela police are still looking for the suspected leader of a gang that steals vehicles, takes them apart and sells their spare parts.

In a report filed with the Northern Police District, Valenzuela Police chief Senior Supt. Rhoderick Armamento said that recent operations in Bulacan, where the city police participated, led to the arrest of several members of a group led by Mac Lester Reyes.

The Valenzuela police got wind of Reyes’ activities after arresting a man last year who was found driving a stolen car.

Police later on discovered a warehouse in the city—found to have been leased by Reyes— where they found another stolen vehicle being stripped of its parts.

In one of the operations conducted earlier this month on MacArthur Highway in Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan, the police arrested Pablito Gumasing Jr., 39, for driving a vehicle reported to have been stolen in Quezon City. Gumasing, who was injured when he engaged the policemen in a shootout, also yielded a sachet of suspected shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride).

Charges of car theft, violation of the Anti-Fencing Law, direct assault, illegal transfer of a license plate, illegal possession of firearms and possession of illegal drugs were later filed against him in the Bulacan Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.

In a separate operation, Armamento said the police arrested Mac Leslie San Diego, 21; Alvin Fronteras, 23; Jancel Alarcon, 23; Alvin Paul Francisco, 26; and Robbie Nieto, 24, in a compound on San Miguel Street, Poblacion II, Marilao, Bulacan, after finding out that they were dismantling confirmed stolen vehicles.

The police also seized six cars and four motorcycles, along with a number of vehicle spare parts in the compound. Armamento believed that those arrested were members of Reyes’ car theft group because the syndicate was known to operate in Bulacan and Metro Manila.

Reyes remains at large but the Valenzuela police are preparing charges of car theft, violation of the Anti-Fencing Law and concealment of one’s true name against him. The charges are in connection with the stolen van recovered from Gumasing and the discovery of the warehouse Reyes rented on Sibesco Street in Victoria Village, Valenzuela City.