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Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Bird smugglers arrested by NBI
By Rhodamae M. Hernandez and Stella A. Estremera
DAVAO CITY -- Operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested Sunday noon an Indonesian and two Filipino nationals for smuggling exotic birds from Indonesia.
The confiscated wildlife, which included a cage full of colorful Rainbow lories, were exterminated Monday at the NBI regional office as a preventive measure against avian influenza or bird flu -- Indonesia being a hotspot for bird flu and the Philippines so far maintaining its bird flu-free status.
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Just two weeks ago, another case of bird flu infection on a human was confirmed in Indonesia.
In the June 25, 2007 bird flu update from the World Health Organization, it said: "The Ministry of Health of Indonesia has announced a new case of human infection of H5N1 avian influenza. A three-year-old female from Riau Province developed symptoms on June 18, 2007 and has since recovered. Investigations into the source of her infection indicate exposure to sick and dead poultry."
Month-long operation
The confiscated animals were put to sleep using carbon dioxide gas at the NBI regional office Monday.
NBI identified the suspected smugglers as Randy Mandumi Makaginggi, an Indonesian; Mike Antucilla, 36, a resident of Davao City; and Renante Toledo alias Nante, a resident of Lasang, also of this city. They were arrested at around noon last Sunday.
"This is a month-long surveillance and product din ito ng intel reports ng mga asset ng bureau (of intelligence reports from the agents of the bureau)," Exzel Hernandez of the NBI told Sun.Star Davao.
Hernandez said the suspects were said to be smuggling contrabands, like firearms, ammunitions, shabu and used the birds as cover for the smuggled items.
He added that the suspects were also said to be smuggling other exotic animals like crocodiles, wild boars, kangaroo mice, and snakes.
"Nung pumunta kami doon (When we went there), it turned out na (that there were only) birds and other exotic animals lang ang andun (there). Yung mga snakes daw kasi, order basis ang pagdala nila (The snakes are on a per order basis)," Hernandez said.
Antucilla, who is the primary suspect, travels to Indonesia at least once a month to get stocks and was using the Indonesian national as interpreter and as his accomplice.
The NBI was informed that the suspects were also involved in human smuggling but this information was not confirmed by this recent operation.
Flock of colorful birds
Confiscated from the suspects were birds of different varieties: a Birds of Paradise, three Rainbow lories, a Black Palm, a Sulfur Cockatoo, two Gaski Lories, a Black Cut Lory, a Black Lory, crocodile, wild boar, and a kangaroo mouse.
The two Filipino suspects are now detained at the NBI-Semro and will be facing charges in violation of Republic Act 9147, otherwise known as the Wildlife Conservation and Protection act while the Indonesian national was brought to the Bureau of Immigration to face appropriate charges.
Bird Flu prevention
The wildlife were turned over to Department of Agriculture (DA) instead of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB).
Under the organizational set-up of the National Avian Flu Task Force, the DA's Bureau of Animal Industry is the lead agency for bird flu for as long as there is still no human infection reported.
There are already 101 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans in Indonesia, 80 of which have been fatal.
Bird flu from the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus was first isolated from a farm goose in Guangdong Province of China in 1996. This was followed by outbreaks in poultry farms and live animal markets in Hong Kong the following year. It was also in this year when human infections with bird flu were reported, also in Hong Kong.
Outbreaks of the virus both in animals and humans continue to be confirmed in Indonesia, the latest of which was just last month. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (July 10 2007 issue)
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