EDITORIAL- Smugglers' cover

Since last week people have wondered how a customized motorcycle stolen from an American scriptwriter in Texas ended up in a warehouse in Bukidnon, for sale together with 19 other expensive motorcycles and five luxury vehicles. The owner of the warehouse, Lynard Allan Bigcas, surfaced yesterday after over a week of being hunted down by law enforcement authorities, telling the press that he was engaged in a legitimate US-based business.

Philippine authorities, together with agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, have found that the 25 vehicles are covered by certificates of registration obtained from branches of the Land Transportation Office in Lanao and Bukidnon. The LTO branches, according to Bureau of Customs officials, were not authorized to register imported vehicles. Customs officials also said the vehicles were not covered by documents to prove payment of required import duties and taxes.

Only two LTO satellite offices have been singled out. It shouldn’t be impossible for officials of the LTO and the Department of Transportation and Communications to trace the sources of those spurious registration papers.

Apart from involvement in vehicle smuggling, LTO personnel are also widely believed to be involved in carjacking operations, together with some law enforcement elements and owners of garages where engine and chassis numbers are altered. As recent events have shown, carjacking is so lucrative those involved are ready to kill for it.

Some quarters are wondering if Bigcas’ warehouse would have been raided if the FBI had not been interested in the case. Philippine law enforcement authorities should cast a wider net, zeroing in on influential personalities suspected of smuggling vehicles in other parts of the country. The LTO should also increase its cooperation with law enforcement agencies. Surely there are honest LTO personnel who want to rid their agency of rotten eggs. These honest employees can assist investigators in ferreting out LTO scalawags. The case in Bukidnon should be a good start.