Passenger caught with unlicensed firearm indicted

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office has indicted a 44-year-old man arrested earlier at the port of Cebu for allegedly having in possession of an unlicensed firearm.

Prosecutor Fatima Asjali-Maadil indicted Enrique Agripa, a resident of Dasmariñas City, Cavite, for trial for violation of Article V Section 28 (a) in relation to (e-1) of Republic Act 10591, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.  Maadil recommended P80,000 bail for Agripa, who manifested to face the charges in court.

Inspector Vincent Joe Castrodes and others assigned at the Cebu Port Authority alleged that on December 19 at around 3:30 a.m., a passenger bound for Manila, who later turned out to be Agripa, was caught in possession of a Smith and Wesson cal. 38 revolver without engraved serial number.

“At around 3:30 in dawn of same date, a group of painters bound for Manila via 2GO vessel entered at passenger Terminal-1. Upon submitting themselves and their luggage for security inspection a firearm was detected in one of the plastic paint containers that were fed in the X-ray machine,” read the joint affidavit of arrest.

X-ray operator Nino Velez then informed security guard Benjamin Quilaton about the firearm and requested him to look for its owner.

Velez said they had a hard time in locating the owner of the luggage because of the influx of passengers having the same type of luggage.

With the assistance of Castrodes, they were able to identify Agripa as the owner when the footage recordings of Terminal-1 closed-circuit television camera were reviewed.

Castrodes alleged that the firearm was surreptitiously wrapped with several layers of plastic, covered with rubber and placed inside a plastic paint container soaked with used oil.

When Agripa was spotted at the entrance of passenger terminal, he was then arrested. — Mylen P. Manto/NSA (FREEMAN)