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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Monday, January 16, 2017
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MANILA – Sacks of marine species from Bacolod City loaded into MV St. Francis Xavier were confiscated at Pier 4 of the Manila North Harbor on Saturday, the Philippine Coast Guard said on Sunday.
An intelligence report prompted Coast Guard Manila to instruct the Task Force Sea Marshal inside the vessel to discreetly locate a 10-wheeler truck where the endangered species were placed.
“Initial inspection revealed that an undetermined quantity of dried seahorse were loaded [into] the truck and declared as ‘scrap plastics’ in the cargo manifest by a certain John Lee,” said Coast Guard spokesperson Armand Balilo.
MV St. Francis Xavier, which plies from Iloilo/Bacolod to Manila, is a passenger vessel owned and operated by the 2GO Group, Inc. It has a gross tonnage of 11,191.11.
Manila Station officers, the Coast Guard K-9 Group, Sea Marshal Group, and Philippine Air Force Intelligence Unit seized the marine species.
“The team also discovered other cargoes on board which also contained other variety of endangered species,” he said.
They included seven polystyrene boxes containing 60 Pangolins, or scaly anteaters; 13 sacks of dried seahorses; and a box of sea dragons.
Truck driver Sueta Marjun and helper Benjio Estrella and the seized marine species were in the custody of Coast Guard Manila as of this writing.
They will be taken to the Manila Prosecutor’s Office for the filing of an appropriate charge, the Coast Guard said./PN
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