MANILA, Philippines -- The police busted Tuesday a big-time syndicate which allegedly issued authentic license plates and Land Transportation Office (LTO) documents for vehicles stolen in Metro Manila.

Two of those arrested, Orly Villaflor and Roberto Aristorenas, were employees of the LTO plate section.

The third was identified as Vilma Castillo, who claimed she worked for an insurance office inside the LTO compound on East Avenue, Quezon City.

Found in her possession were dozens of blank Original Receipt (OR) and Certificate of Registration (CR) forms. Also seized during the operation were several blank LTO license plates.

Superintendent Napoleon Cauyan, who led the operation, said they were looking for four more LTO employees believed to be members of the group as well.

“This raid covers six months of surveillance and talking to informants. We have deployed at least 200 policemen, including members of the Special Weapons and Tactics [unit]. [This] is the biggest [operation] to be mounted against the syndicate,” Cauyan said.

During the operation, the police raided eight establishments inside the LTO com pound on East Avenue.

The establishments, which did not have signboards, sold items ranging from clothes to car insurance. The police, however, said that some of the stores served as fronts for the syndicate and employed “fixers.”

Castillo told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that a fixer gave her the blank LTO documents which she was selling at P700 each.

Cauyan, however, said, that a “set”—composed of an OR, CR and a license plate—sold for much more.

“This is not only falsification but also economic sabotage because each set could be sold for a maximum of P100,000 and the government [has probably] been defrauded of hundreds of millions of pesos,” he added.

Castillo, meanwhile, denied that she was a member of the syndicate.

“I don’t know any car thieves. We only deal with people who ask us to help them process their OR and CR,” she said in Filipino.

Glenda Lacambra, an employee who worked in one of the shops which was raided, also denied that she was involved in illegal activities.

“We are not doing anything illegal, we just offer our services to those who are busy and cannot attend to these things,” she said.

Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director, who led the operation, said the raid was aimed at drastically reducing car theft cases in Metro Manila.

“The daily report of stolen vehicles has escalated and by breaking the source of the documents and plate numbers, we will immediately decrease the car robbery [cases] and this raid is only the tip of the iceberg,” Rosales said.

Superintendent Maristelo Manalo, NCRPO anticar theft head, said the vehicle commonly targeted by car thieves was the Toyota Fortuner.

“At least the three motorcycles and two sport utility vehicles are being stolen daily in Metro Manila since January,” Manalo told the Inquirer.

Also present during the operation were Quezon City Police District officials headed by Chief Supt. Elmo San Diego and Superintendents Franklin Moises Mabanag and Gerardo Ratuita.