Police seize P2M in corals, shells

Thursday, April 28, 2011

AT LEAST P2 million worth of assorted rare shells, corals and stuffed baby sharks were confiscated from an alleged shellcraft dealer in Barangay Alegria, Cordova, Cebu past 10 a.m. yesterday.

An inter-agency team caught businessman Hadji Subteri, alias Jalai Daibal Sabtiri, for allegedly violating Republic Act 8550, or the 1998 Fisheries Code of the Philippines and Republic Act 9147, or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act.

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But Subteri, in a brief interview with reporters, denied ownership of the seized items. The 59-year-old, who hails from Zamboanga City, said he is jobless and denied the information gathered by law enforcers that exports marine products.

The arrest proceeded after operatives found and seized six baskets of tridacna shells and nine sacks of the same variety of shells but smaller ones, 13 boxes of murex, three sacks of sponges, one box of sea corals and four stuffed baby sharks.

The operatives raided Subteri’s house based on a search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Generosa Labra.

The team included representatives from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7, Cordova Police Station, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Cebu Provincial Anti-illegal Fishing Task Force.

Senior Insp. Ricky Neron of the CIDG 7, who led the raid, said they placed Subteri under surveillance for more than two months.

Neron said the assorted shells and corals were scheduled to be sent to Germany. He said the operation formed part of the CIDG’s Oplan Kalikasan.

It was the second operation by the CIDG that resulted in the confiscation of marine products. The first one was in Lapu-Lapu City, in the house of Punta Engaño Barangay Captain Lourdes Ibag.

The CIDG operatives had confiscated 11 boxes of helmet shells, 10 boxes of giant clams, a box of trumpet shells and a box of sea corals from Ibag. They conducted the raid together with the National Bureau of Investigation, the Naval Forces Central and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, with the support of the Provincial Task Force against Illegal Fishing.

Ibag posted bail. Her lawyer later said the corals were the same ones confiscated during a raid in 2002 and had been left there by the authorities.