16 tons of stolen vintage rails recovered

SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan — The local police here recovered 16 tons of vintage rails stolen from railroads in different Pangasinan towns and sold to junk shops in two separate raids Sunday.

Police Inspector Rufino de Leon, intelligence and investigation officer here, told The STAR that they received a text message from a concerned citizen regarding the unloading of several tons of steel rails in a junk shop owned by a certain Elma Estigoy along Barangay Magtaking at around 11 a.m. on Sunday.

The lawmen seized about 291 pieces of assorted sizes of rail weighing 13 tons and estimated to cost around P180,000.

On the same day, another tipster told police that along Barangay Turac here, a truck loaded with rails was parked due to mechanical trouble. Another 31 pieces of rail weighing three tons and costing around P33,000 were recovered. The stolen rails were to delivered to another junkshop in Bautista town.

As the stolen items are government properties, De Leon said they are coordinating with the authorities at the Philippine National Railways (PNR) for the filing of appropriate charges against the rail thieves. — Eva Visperas