Guns seized by NAIA customs

Customs authorities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) held yesterday a shipment of high-powered Heckler and Kock firearms from Great Britain for failure of a Makati-based importing company to present the required permit from the Firearms and Explosives Division of the Philippine National Police.

Although Tri-Mark Ventures has a license to import firearms and ammunition, NAIA Customs District Collector Celso Templo said that the company did not have a permit to import the shipment which consisted of late model assault rifles, magazines, bullets and accessories.

The armaments, in three boxes, arrived last March 29 on board a Korean Airlines flight. It was shipped fom Great Britain.

Deputy Customs Commissioner Ray Allas has ordered Customs police chief Maj. Esmeralda Saplala to conduct an investigation of the illegal shipment. He also said that a warrant of seizure and detention was issued on the shipment.

The 360-kilogram shipment, according to Templo, has been stored in a vault at the NAIA Customs, pending a complete inventory of the weapons, ammunition and gun accessories.

Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo and other Customs officials witnessed the opening of the three boxes containing the weaponry. – Rey Arquiza and Cecille Suerte Felipe