Cops nab 2 motorcycle thieves in Pikit

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  – The police filed criminal charges Thursday against two notorious motorcycle thieves belonging to a big syndicate operating in Central Mindanao.

Senior Inspector Elias Dandan, municipal police chief of Pikit town in North Cotabato, said the suspects, Kautin Tacucu, Unting Pangilamen, were arrested Tuesday in a raid at their hideout in Barangay Manaulanan, which is a known stronghold of Moro forces.

Police and Army intelligence sources confirmed that Tacucu and Pangilamen have stolen more than 50 motorcycles in North Cotabato and Maguindanao since late 2011.

The duo was arrested while dismantling a newly-stolen motorcycle in their hideout in a farm in a remote area in Barangay Manaulanan in Pikit.

The raiding team, led by Dandan, also recovered from the suspects’ hideout four other stolen motorcycles.

Dandan said they learned of the suspects’ presence in the area from informants, some of whom are active members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The raid was carried out with the help of combatants of the Army’s Special Forces based in Pikit and the 7th Infantry Battalion, a component unit of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

Dandan said investigators are still trying to exact confessions from Tacucu and Pangilamen on their involvement in drug trafficking and highwat robberies.