Police yesterday confiscated three more cars during another raid in the home of a man linked to a Manila-based carnapping syndicate.
Members of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) armed with a search warrant raided anew the house of carnapping suspect Jovel Entote in St. Michael Village in barangay Banilad, Cebu City.
They confiscated a Toyota Hilux, a Toyota Prado, and a Mini Cooper.
Lawyer Edwin Engay, HPG Central Visayas counsel, said yesterday that the Mini Cooper had questionable plate numbers while the Toyota Prado and Toyota Hilux had no plate numbers at all.
“Our presumption is that these cars are either carnapped, stolen or from other illegal sources,” said Engay.
Engay said the Land Transportation Office confirmed that they didn’t issue the plate number ANI-700 for the Mini Cooper.
Yesterday’s raid happened after Cebu City Asst. Prosecutor Rodulf Joseph Val Carillo ordered the release of Mary Anne Entote, the wife of Jovel Entote.
“There was no evidence that a crime was committed (by Entote) during the arrest. There are no grounds to conduct a warrantless arrest,” Carillo told reporters yesterday.
The two complaints filed by the police against Mary Anne, however, would remain.
She is accused of violating the Land Transportation and Traffic Code and the Anti-Carnapping Act.
She was particularly accused of tampering with the plate numbers and for failing to register the motor vehicle engine, and engine block and chassis.
The complaints against Mary Anne Entote will be raffled to another prosecutor for preliminary investigation.
Mary Anne was arrested when the HPG raided her home last Thursday. They also confiscated a Honda Jazz and a white BMW.
Another BMW allegedly linked to Entote was also recovered in barangay Zapatera last Saturday.
Mary Anne’s husband, Jovel, was arrested in barangay Cogon, Cebu City last Tuesday for purportedly selling a van in Quezon City to a lending company in Bacolod City.
Jovel, who was linked to a car theft syndicate, was brought to Camp Crame in Quezon City. He faces qualified carnapping charges in a Quezon City court.
Police claimed that Jovel Entote’s group was allegedly engaged in stealing vehicles in Metro Manila and in Luzon, which they sold in the Visayas and Mindanao./Correspondent Chito O. Aragon with Reporter Ador Vincent S. Mayol