Manila, May 12 -- The Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) has recovered 10 vehicles linked to a "rent-tangay" scheme in Batangas and Laguna, dealing a major blow to an emerging fraudulent vehicle rental network operating across the Calabarzon Region.

The vehicles were recovered during operations conducted May 7 and 8, the PNP said in a news release Tuesday.

"The recovery of these 10 vehicles is a clear testament to our evolving intelligence capabilities. We are no longer just looking for stolen cars on the road. We are dismantling the fraudulent networks that exploit the trust of our citizens through 'rent-tangay' (steal) and 'rent-benta' (sell) schemes," PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said.

"This opera...