Cops nab carjacking suspect who sold stolen vehicle online

DUMAGUETE CITY — Police arrested a man who allegedly stole a van in Bohol and sold it online in an entrapment operation in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental on Thursday, Feb. 16.

Suspect Niño Vincent Sanico, 29, and a native of Compostela town, Cebu, did not resist arrest.

A Nissan Urvan with plate number TKO 618, which was initially rented by the suspect, was retrieved in Tanjay City after it was reported missing since Dec. 26, 2022.

According to Lieutenant Col. Richard Gadingan of the Tanjay Police, the vehicle was owned by Antonieto Sabado, a resident of Tagbilaran City, Bohol.

Sabado already appealed to Sanico to return the car after it was recorded missing for almost two weeks already.

Gadingan said the incident was reported at the Tagbilaran Police on Jan. 6, 2023.

Initial investigation revealed that the vehicle was sold online by Sanico through Facebook Marketplace. When authorities knew, they planned an entrapment operation to arrest the suspect and retrieve the vehicle.

Gadingan said their team negotiated with the suspect and agreed to bring the van to Tanjay City. The suspect was unaware about the entrapment operation.

Sanico then drove the van to Negros Oriental assuming that someone was waiting for him to buy it.

The suspect, together with the missing car, arrived at Tanjay late Thursday afternoon, and was flagged down in a checkpoint at the national highway in Barangay 9.

Sanico was placed under the custody of police pending the filing of charges against him.

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JPV