BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
ILOILO City – The police of Batad, Iloilo has identified the owner of the P2.5-million worth of sea shells intercepted in Barangay Poblacion.
She was Diosa Hechanova of San Carlos City in Negros Occidental, said Inspector Joven Arevalo.
Hechanova was also the one who hired the truck driver and two helpers who were caught transporting 95 sacks of shells, said Arevalo.
Arrested truck driver Christopher Mancia of San Carlos City told the Batad police Hechanova asked them to transport the shells supposedly from Estancia, Iloilo to San Carlos City in Negros Occidental.
On July 31, however, upon reaching Batad around 6:30 p.m., the police intercepted Mancia and companions Cipriano Ombrero and Rene Boy Rusiana, both also of San Carlos City.
Mancia said he did not know that the shells they were transporting were endangered and that transporting them was illegal under the Fisheries Code or Republic Act 8550.
The sea shells, reportedly harvested in Masbate province, cost P30 each in the local market but could fetch up to P1,500 each in the international market.
The Batad police said the seized shells might have been meant for sale in China./ PN
