The Philippine National Police-Traffic Management Group (PNP-TMG) announced yesterday the arrest of the leader of a gang responsible for a carjacking spree in Quezon City and nearby provinces.

Nabbed at his safehouse in Barangay Sto. Cristobal, Bangar town in La Union was Randy Madrigal, 27, alleged leader of the Madrigal Carnapping Group.

TMG director Chief Superintendent Augusto Angcanan said the elusive Madrigal, who has several warrants pending against him for carjacking cases at a Quezon City court, was left with no choice but to surrender after a combined anti-carjacking police team surprised him at around 6 a.m.

Madrigal is one of the priority targets of the TMG, which has intensified operations following a wave of carjacking incidents that swept Metro Manila in the last few weeks.

The suspect, who has four pending warrants of arrest against him with a total bail bond of P254,000, has been tagged as one of the brains behind the upsurge of carjacking not only in the National Capital Region (NCR), but also in the Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon.

Last May 16, Madrigal and his gang stole the Hyundai Starex van of one Flordeliza Gongora in Manila.

Police anti-car theft agents recovered Gongora’s vehicle at a gasoline station along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) while it was about to be delivered to a buyer.

During the operation, the group managed to escape, leaving the vehicle behind.

Subsequent operations led the TMG officers to the gang’s hideout in Barangay San Roque, Antipolo City, where the leader of the carjacking group again managed to elude arrest after trading shots with police raiders.

A stolen Toyota Corolla was recovered by the policemen during the Antipolo raid, Angcanan said.

After a series of carjacking incidents in Quezon City, Madrigal hid in La Union, where he forcibly took a Mitsubishi L-300 van from its owner in the capital town of San Fernando.


Sana mahuli na nila lahat para safe na ulit lumabas.