IT is back to jail for accused car smuggler Lynard Allan Bigcas after he was arrested by agents of the National Bureau Of Investigation- Northern Mindanao (NBI-10) Tuesday morning.
Bigcas was arrested at about 10:45 in the morning at Vamenta Boulevard, Barangay Carmen while on his way home to Talakag, Bukidnon.
Lawyer Angelito Magno, NBI 10 regional director, said Bigcas was arrested based on a warrant of arrest issued by Presiding Justice Roman G. Del Rosario of the Court of Tax Appeal’s (CTA) 1st Division in Quezon City for Unlawful Importation under Section 3601 of the Tariff and Customs Code.
Magno said Bigcas did not resist the arrest and surrendered when the NBI agents flagged his vehicle down.
The arrest came after Bigcas’ P120,000 cash bail, posted at Branch 18 of the Regional Trial Court of Misamis Oriental, was ordered confiscated by the CTA following Bigcas’ non-appearance at court hearings.
Magno said Bigcas would be temporarily detained at the NBI 10 pending the court’s decision on where Bigcas will be committed.
Asked why he had snubbed the hearings, Bigcas said he had been unable to appear before the CTA because he thought his cases were being heard in Cagayan de Oro City.
Bigcas said he has already directed his lawyer to file an appeal before the CTA to allow him to post bail.
This is the third arrest for Bigcas who first figured into news headlines after a stolen custom-made chopper owned by a Hollywood movie director was found in his possession in 2011.
Anti-smuggling cases were subsequently filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) at the Office of the City Prosecutor in Cagayan de Oro following the seizure of 29 assorted second-hand motor vehicles and motorcycles that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Houston, Texas, USA, reported were stolen and which were imported allegedly into the country by Bigcas.
Among the vehicles seized from Bigcas’ rented warehouse in Barangay Kauswagan by a joint team of NBI and FBI agents were Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Corvette, Dodge Charger, Toyota Sequioa, Ranger RZR Utility Terrain, Polaris Magnum 325 ATV, a Harley Davidson motorcycle, a Martin Brother’s Chopper, and assorted Kawasaki, Honda and Suzuki motorcycles.
The DOJ said the vehicles were worth $473,667.00 or P18.898 million at the time of the confiscation.