Arrested at MCIA: American’s luggage yields pistol, bullets

CEBU, Philippines - Police arrested a 66-year-old American national after a firearm and live ammunition were found inside his luggage around 10:50 p.m. Sunday at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

Screening officers of the Office of  Transportation Security and the Aviation Security Group-7 immediately placed Timothy Lee Lindsey under arrest after the discovery.

Said to be a retired navy official from the United States, Lindsey was supposedly bound for Incheon Airport in Seoul, South Korea via Korean Air when the OTS initial security check found a caliber .45 AK-4 in what appeared to be a carton placed in a small tool box in his luggage.

Police also confiscated from Lindsey two live ammunition rounds and two magazines.

Lindsey told the police he was a captain of a US tugboat, and as such, he might have believed he was exempted from local security checks, according to Senior Superintendent Joselito Salido, police chief of ASG-7.

Lindsey said he had worked for the US Navy for 26 years. He has been going in and out of the country because his girlfriend is from Ormoc City, Leyte.

Further investigation found out that Lindsey had no documents to show for possessing the firearm. He reportedly bought it for P7,000 from a man, whose identity he refused to divulge.

In an interview with reporters later, Lindsey did not deny he had a gun with him, but said he was thinking the laws in his country and in the Philippines are different.

In the US, he claimed, they are allowed to bring firearms even without documents.

“It’s in my luggage. I knew it was there and I was gonna declare it but in my country it works a little different. You go to the airport, then to the counter, then you declare that you have a firearm in your box, then it’s processed,” he said.

“But here, you are screened before you get to the counter so you can’t declare. So it’s a procedural problem that I’m not familiar with,” he added.

Lindsey went through inquest proceedings at the Lapu-Lapu City Hall of Justice yesterday morning.

He is now facing charges for violation of Republic Act 10591 which regulates possession of firearms in the Philippines. He is detained at the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office.

Salido said they will conduct a separate investigation to verify or determine where the gun came from.

Last Thursday, 35-year-old Taiwanese national Chao Ching Hung was also arrested at the MCIA after attempting to smuggle a KG-9 unit with two magazines, a .9 mm Beretta pistol and its magazine.

Police said some 100 live ammunition rounds were found inside his suitcase concealed on a lead blanket. (FREEMAN)