SIX MEN reportedly clad in police uniform hijacked a refrigerated truck loaded with more than P2.3 million worth of carabeef in Manila, according to a belated police report.
Manila Police District Anti-Carnapping and Hijacking (MPD-ANCARH) unit head Chief Insp. Randy Maluyo said that although the incident happened at around 10:30 p.m. Friday last week, it was only on Tuesday that the complainants formalized their complaint at the MPD headquarters.
Donning PNP ball caps and denim jackets worn over police uniform pants, the hijackers commandeered late Friday night a 40-foot refrigerated container van of the Dixijoe Movers company containing 27,000 kilograms of carabeef.
The truck passengers were blindfolded and hogtied and then forced to board a maroon Asian utility vehicle (AUV).
In his statement, Arnel Acon, driver of the truck, said he and his companions pulled out of the Manila International Container Port at North Harbor after picking up the frozen meat cargo at around 9 p.m.
The cargo was supposed to be delivered to the CMPC cold storage in Cabuyao, Laguna province.
As they were cruising along Quirino Avenue near Malate, occupants of a passing maroon Tamaraw FX signaled Acon that his tail lights were out. As soon as the truck reached a stoplight, the AUV overtook the truck and blocked its path.
Three men in police uniform alighted from the Tamaraw FX and ordered Acon and his companions, Rogelio Garcia and Gana Customs Brokerage checker Maribeth Brizuela, off the vehicle.
The three suspects then blindfolded them with packaging tape and forced them inside the Tamaraw FX, Acon said.
After driving for several hours, the three were abandoned by the hijackers at around 2 a.m. of Saturday, in a grassy area along Navarette Street, Barangay Panghulo, Obando in Bulacan province.
Maluyo revealed that initial follow-up operations conducted by the MPD-ANCARH resulted in the recovery of the abandoned truck along Honorio Lopez Street in Gagalangin, Tondo, Manila.
The carabeef cargo, estimated to cost US$52,650 or P2,340,187.20, were taken by the hijackers.
MPD-ANCARH men are conducting follow-up operations for the identification and arrest of the suspects and the recovery of the stolen items.
