‘Chop-chop’ car parts seized in follow-up Tarlac raid

**DLV** · October 17th, 2007 09:14 AM

[SIZE=2]Philippine Star - Nation
Wednesday, October 17, 2007

‘Chop-chop’ car parts seized in follow-up Tarlac raid
By Ric Sapnu

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga [/SIZE][SIZE=2]–[/SIZE][SIZE=2] "Chop-chop" spare parts from five supposedly stolen vehicles were recovered by a joint police team in a follow-up raid on a rest house reportedly owned by a prosecutor in Bamban, Tarlac last Monday, authorities said.

In a report to the regional police command here, Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome, Tarlac police director, said the cannibalized vehicle parts were seized as the combined team of the Tarlac police, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and Traffic Management Group conducted a follow-up to last Friday’s raid that yielded stolen vehicles in Sitio Gumain, Barangay Lourdes in Bamban town.

Bartolome said the confiscated spare parts were cannibalized from a Mitsubishi Adventure, Isuzu Crosswind, Honda Civic, Mitsubishi Pajero, and Toyota.

Two of the recovered vehicles were taken to Camp Crame [/SIZE][SIZE=2]–[/SIZE][SIZE=2] a Nissan Urvan with license plate ZGA-927 owned by Eugenio Gonzales Gorospe Jr. and stolen last Oct. 10 while it was parked along Davao street in Bagong Bantay, Quezon City; and a Honda Civic with license plate UGL-163 owned by Mary Jane Redona and stolen last Oct. 8 along Seminary Road in Project 8, Quezon City.

Two other vehicles [/SIZE][SIZE=2]–[/SIZE][SIZE=2] a Honda Civic with license plate WJF-887 and a Mitsubishi Strada with license plate CNV 138 [/SIZE][SIZE=2]–[/SIZE][SIZE=2] were impounded at the Bamban police station while their owners are being established.

Chief Superintendent Errol Pan, Central Luzon police director, said he has ordered Bartolome to unmask those behind the illegal activities.

Most stolen vehicles are usually "chop-chopped" or stripped of their parts, which end up in dealers of second-hand vehicle accessories in Central Luzon, Quezon City and Makati City.

Police invited a certain Mario Tomado and Luzviminda Garcia, the caretakers of the rest house of fiscal Claudio Dayaon, to explain the presence of stolen vehicles in the place.

The two claimed that a certain Lester was the one who brought the vehicles there in the afternoon of Oct. 10 for reasons they refused to elaborate on, Bartolome said.

Senior Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar, regional officer of the CIDG, said they are still gathering evidence on the case.

The "chop-chop" spare parts were found in a canal covered with banana leaves.

In an interview with reporters, Dayaon vehemently denied any knowledge of the stolen vehicles and cannibalized car parts and vowed to even accompany the caretakers of his rest house to appear before the TMG in Tarlac City.
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