The Negros Oriental police are investigating reports that the province and Dumaguete City are transshipment points of loose firearms being smuggled to other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.

Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office director, Senior Supt. Edward Carranza, yesterday said Region 7 PNP director, Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo, instructed him to investigate the interception of a cache of firearms at the Dumaguete port Wednesday.

He said the shipment of the contraband, recovered from seven bags on a bus from Bacolod City en route to Zamboanga via Dumaguete and Dapitan, appeared to have been set up already.

Initial assessment shows that the easiest way for contraband bound for Dapitan is to be transported from Cebu to Dumaguete. Danao City in Cebu province, that is known for locally-manufactured guns, is just a few hours travel to and from Negros Oriental, he said.

He also said this was not the first time NOPPO has intercepted a shipment of loose firearms. During the stint of then provincial police director, Senior Supt. Ramon Melvin Buenafe, the police also confiscated unlicensed firearms purportedly being shipped from Cebu, he added.

On Wednesday afternoon, operatives of the NOPPO Provincial Intelligence Bureau intercepted the shipment on board a bus and seized two KG-9 millimeter sub-machine guns with magazines and suppressors, or silencers, 17 pieces of .45 caliber pistols and magazines. The guns and accessories all appeared to be brand new, and the submachine guns had no serial numbers.

Investigation showed that, the bus driver disclosed that three women and a man carried the seven bags on board the vehicle.

Carranza said the firearms are apparently intended for use, either during the 2013 elections, or for other notorious activities. The inclusion of suppressors indicates intent to kill by stealth, he added.*JFP

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