MANILA, Philippines – People who lost their laptop computers or cell phones to thieves should check sites on the Internet that offer secondhand electronic equipment.

Michael Arcilla, a marketing manager, did just that and found out that his Dell laptop computer, which was stolen from him in a San Juan City restaurant on Tuesday, was being offered for sale by a person with the user name “armzsore.” The computer had been stolen just a day before.

Arcilla said he immediately contacted the seller, who turned out to be Mark Grino, 26, of Laon Laan, Manila. They later met in a coffee shop in a mall in Makati City on Friday.

“The moment I saw the laptop, I immediately knew it was mine because of a scratch on its surface,” he added.

“It cost me more than P134,000 because of additional accessories but Grino was selling it to me for P43,995,” Arcilla said.

With the help of the mall’s security men, he said they apprehended the suspect and brought him to the nearest police station.

Eastern Police District director, Chief Supt. Nilo de la Cruz, said Grino’s arrest led to the discovery of the existence of an organized syndicate buying stolen materials and selling them on the Internet.

Senior Supt. Eduardo Villena, head of the EPD District Investigation and Detective Management Division, however, said that with the intervention of three lawyers, the suspect was ordered released on Monday by a prosecutor “for formal investigation.”