LTO, CIDG nab 4 in Bulacan fake license plate bust

Four individuals were arrested for manufacturing and selling counterfeit license plates during a joint operation conducted by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) in San Ildefonso, Bulacan.

LTO Acting Assistant Secretary and Chief Atty. Greg G. Pua made the announcement during a press conference Tuesday at the LTO headquarters in Quezon City. The 12 July operation, he said, was carried out in line with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.'s directive to Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon to crack down on scammers and criminal elements in the transport sector.

Pua said the operation stemmed from verified intelligence gathered by the LTO’s Investigation and Intelligence Division (IID) regarding the suspects’ illegal activities.

“We immediately coordinated with the CIDG to conduct an operation against these people and this resulted in their arrest and the confiscation of the fake plates,” said Pua.

“We laud the LTO-IID headed by Renante Melitante and our partners in the CIDG for this successful operation. We assure the public na hindi titigil ang inyong LTO para matigil ang mga ganitong klaseng iligal na gawain,” he added.

Seized during the operation were 51 fake license plates, marked money, printing machines, computers, a machine press, four cutting machines, a vinyl reflectorized film, a hole-punching machine, 14 trays of acrylic letters, three acrylic borders, and a cold laminate machine.

The estimated value of the confiscated materials is P400,000.

The arrested suspects are now in CIDG custody and face charges for violating Presidential Decree 1730 and Article 2, Section 31 of Republic Act 4136.