Police seize 100 sacks of bomb raw materials

By Mar S. Arguelles

MARITIME police operatives on June 3 afternoon intercepted 100 sacks of ammonium nitrate being loaded by two male suspects in a motorized banca docked at a coastal village in Placer town in Masbate.

Col. Joriz Cantoria, Masbate police provincial director, said the seized ammonium nitrate worth P606,000 had no corresponding shipping documents as the suspects were able to elude arresting police operatives led by the Masbate Maritime Police Station.

Cantoria has identified the suspects as Jesus Casinillo of Barangay Burabod and Onel Alburo the owner of the motorized banca of Barangay Katipunan all of the same town.

The Maritime police operatives were on seaborne patrol at around 5:45 PM when they saw the suspects while loading the sacks of ammonium nitrate to their boat at the shorelines of Sitio Bitlig, Barangay Daraga.

The suspects sensing the approaching police operatives immediately fled the area.

The maritime police impounded the motorized banca and the 100 sacks of ammonium nitrate.

Cantoria in an interview said the suspects could be engaged in selling the chemical material to produce an improvised explosive device (IED) for illegal fishing purposes.

Ammonium nitrate is a chemical material used for agriculture fertilizers or it could be used to make explosives.