Philippine National Police (PNP) authorities are now looking at the possibility that Negros Oriental and its capital city, Dumaguete, are possible trans-shipment points of loose firearms being smuggled to other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao regions.
PNP provincial director Sr. Supt. Edward Carranza on Thursday disclosed that Region 7 PNP director Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo has instructed him to further investigate Wednesday afternoon’s interception of a cache of firearms at the Dumaguete port.
The shipment of the smuggled goods, which were recovered from seven separate bags on board a Ceres bus from Bacolod City en route to Zamboanga via Dumaguete and Dapitan, appears to have been set up already.
Initial police assessment show that the easiest way was for the contraband items to be transported from Cebu to Dumaguete bound for Dapitan. Danao City in Cebu province is known for locally manufacturing guns and is just a few hours travel to and from Negros Oriental.
Carranza said this is not the first time for police operatives in Negros Oriental to intercept a shipment of loose firearms. He noted that during the stint of then provincial police director Sr. Supt. Ramon Melvin Buenafe, policemen also confiscated unlicensed firearms purportedly being shipped from Cebu.
On Wednesday afternoon, operatives of the PNP’s Provincial Intelligence Bureau intercepted the shipment on board a Ceres bus at the Dumaguete port.
Early police investigation also showed that according to the bus driver, at least three females and a male were purportedly carrying the seven bags that later turned out to contain the firearms and accessories. No arrests were made as the suspects managed to escape as policemen searched the bus.
Seized were two KG-9 millimeter sub-machine guns with magazines and suppressors (silencers) and 17 pieces of caliber .45 pistols and magazines. All of the guns and accessories appeared to be brand new, with the sub-machine guns having no serial numbers while the rest bore serial numbers.
Meanwhile, Sr. Supt. Carranza said police are investigating further the possible owner, mastermind or the person behind the shipment of the loose firearms and the intended recipient but he declined to give further details to avoid compromising the investigation.
The firearms, he believes, appears to be intended for use either during the upcoming 2013 elections or for other notorious activities.
The use of suppressors apparently indicates intent to kill, said Carranza.
He lauded the Barangay Intelligence Network (BIN) as being actively involved in keeping the peace, noting that the seizure of the firearms cache was a result of relentless intelligence gathering with the participation of the civilians at the barangay levels providing information to police intelligence operatives. (PNA)