OPERATIVES on Tuesday smashed a “basag-kotse” gang following the arrest of four of its members that gained notoriety for preying on vehicle owners in Calabarzon region.
Police Regional Office 4-A director Brig. Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr. identified the arrested suspects as Alberth Solana Santos, 44, gang leader and financier, of Blk. 21, Lot 1, Arellano St., Lessandra Heights, Molino IV, Bacoor, Cavite; Remy Ilayat Santos, 42, wife of Alberth; Joey Aguirre Masayon alias “Jojo,” 45, a resident of Purok 5, Muena St., Alabang, Muntinlupa; and Jimmy Aguirre Masayon, 48, of Purok 1, Brgy. Dela Paz, Biñan, Laguna.
Nartatez said the suspects area of operations Laguna and Cavite and even Metro Manila.
The other members of the gang who managed to elude arrest were identified as Jose Aguirre Masayon and Joval Valentin.
The Masayons have standing warrants. Alias “Jojo” has a standing warrant for theft and malicious mischief while Jimmy has a standing warrant of arrest for theft.
According to Nartatez, the breakthrough in their investigation came after the Laguna Police Provincial Office headed by Col. Randy Glenn G. Silvio received information that the suspects were using a black Mazda sedan with gold-colored mags and with plate no. UTX-319.
The same car was spotted with at least four occupants in different parts of San Pedro City, Sta. Rosa City and Cabuyao City in Laguna province and in nearby Bacoor City in Cavite, where “basag-kotse” incidents have been recorded each time they were seen by witnesses.
Nartatez said among the victims was a Laguna vice mayor and two teen celebrities in Bacoor City.
The latest victim of the suspects was a Toyota Fortuner owned by lawyer Henry B. Salazar which was ransacked by the suspects while parked unattended at San Antonio Drive in front of Takara Hotel, Brgy. San Antonio, San Pedro City, Laguna, at about midnight on December 29, 2022.
One of the suspects identified as Joey Aguirre Masayonaka alighted from the black Mazda and broke the rear right window of the complainant’s vehicle before carting away a brown bag containing a MacBook Air laptop computer and a Glock 19 semi-automatic pistol with a loaded magazine.
Unknown to the suspects, the official’s bag had a GPS device, which enabled them to track down the thieves’ locations.
