Photo courtesy of PNP-CIDG
Eleven people were arrested after authorities raided suspected unauthorized license plate production sites in Metro Manila and Davao City, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said.
The arrests stemmed from three operations conducted on Sept. 2 and 3 as police and the Land Transportation Office investigated the alleged production of plates resembling those officially issued for registered vehicles.
Two women were apprehended during an entrapment operation in Barangay Tugatog, Malabon City, on Sept. 2. Investigators said they found several pairs of suspected counterfeit plates, plate-making equipment and stocks of finished and discarded materials at the site.
Information gathered from the Malabon operation was followed by another enforcement action the next day in Barangay 649 in Baseco, Port Area, Manila, where three suspects were arrested.
Among the items recovered in Manila were allegedly fabricated license plates and acrylic plates, along with computer equipment and materials that investigators believe were being used in the operation.
Authorities simultaneously pursued a separate case in Davao City on Sept. 3, arresting six people along Quezon Boulevard. Police reported recovering 66 improvised plates for motorcycles and other vehicles, as well as equipment allegedly used to make them.
The operations involved units of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, LTO personnel and local police forces in the three cities.
Republic Act No. 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, prohibits making, using or selling plates and other vehicle registration documents that imitate those lawfully issued by the government.
PNP chief Jose Melencio Nartatez said the crackdown was intended to prevent unauthorized plates from being used to misrepresent or conceal vehicle identities. The 11 arrested individuals remain suspects, and their liability will be determined through the appropriate legal proceedings.
