Cops raid ‘hot’ car storehouse

A house in Quezon City believed to be used as a storage area for stolen vehicles and car spare parts was raided by police yesterday afternoon.

A composite team from the Quezon City Police District and the Traffic Management Group raided the house on St. John street, Remerville Subdivision in Barangay Baesa which yielded a gray Toyota Hi-lux (ZAL-483) and spare parts of vehicles.

Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo Jr., deputy chief of the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said no one was inside the house but they would look into the possible link of a certain Joan Morale, who is said to be staying in the house, to a notorious gang based in Bulacan.

According to Pedrozo, a Hi-lux that was recovered inside the compound was stolen from its owner in Meycauayan, Bulacan last April by car thieves belonging to the “Bonifacio Group.”

The Bulacan-based car theft group operates in Northern and Central Luzon, Pedrozo said in an interview.

Morale – said to be renting the house from owner Regie Indo – was not present during the raid, but Pedrozo said she would be invited for questioning.

Pedrozo said the raid was done after a surveillance team from the TMG led by Chief Inspector Allan Macapagal saw a blue L-200 van about to enter the house at 1 p.m.

But upon sensing that police operatives were in the area, the driver of the vehicle immediately sped away.

Police were not able to take note of the license plates of the vehicle, but immediately went inside the compound where they found the stolen SUV and the car spare parts.           – Reinir Padua