- MITCH M. LIPA
The Land Transportation Office in Bacolod City arrested a couple in an entrapment operation at the Bacolod Central Market August 26, for falsifying drivers’ licenses.
The operation was conducted after the LTO recovered 26 fake drivers’ licenses turned over recently by some of the victims, who revealed that the transactions were done via Facebook.
LTO Bacolod head Reuben Tampos turned over the items to the regional office in Iloilo and the Legal Enforcement Division took action by conducting the entrapment operation, in coordination with the Bacolod police.
The couple was acting as middle persons in the illegal transaction, Tampos said as he warned the public against transacting on social media for their driver’s license.
Tampos added that three victims went to the police station recently and complained that sometime in September last year, they transacted with the couple for a driver’s license package for P4,000 to P4,500, without going through the process at the LTO.
He said that upon verification at the LTO, the victims discovered that their licenses were fake and that the license number belongs to another person.
The operatives are still verifying the origin of the computer machine that manufactures the fake license cards.
Tampos said the modus was first discovered in Iloilo, and it started last year when strict requirements were being asked from the new licensees.
In the new requirement, the applicant should enrol first in a 15-hour driving course from any private driving school that charges around P5,000. A separate amount is needed for the processing of papers at the LTO.
Tampos said he believes that there are more victims in Negros of this kind of transaction but they are apprehensive to come out and file complaints.
The couple is detained at the custodial facility of Police Station 1 in Bacolod City. – MML
