NBI agents stopped a major sale of endangered wood arranged on Facebook Marketplace.
Three men were arrested in Naga City after trying to sell rare, endangered wood through social media.
Agents from the National Bureau of Investigation-7 (NBI-7) caught the suspects during a sting operation along the Tinaan–Sindulan road on January 28, 2026.
The investigation began when authorities discovered that one of the suspects, Khy-Rhys Anton Gonzalez, was selling "highly rare and endangered species" of ironwood, also known as magkuno, on Facebook Marketplace.
On January 27, Gonzalez contacted an undercover agent and offered to sell five large pieces of cut ironwood. The total volume was 716.66 board feet, valued at approximately P640,000.
When the group met the buyer on January 28 to deliver the goods, they did not know they were meeting with NBI agents.
Gonzalez arrived with two other men: Edsel Villamora Revillas and the truck driver, Tirso Arcabal Olivar. All three are of legal age and are residents of Cebu and Surigao del Sur.
The suspects tried to conceal the illegal shipment by hiding the wood under rice hulls inside the truck. However, the agents uncovered the cargo and immediately stopped the sale.
According to the NBI-7 investigation, the seized wood came from Surigao. Investigators learned that the suspects have been supplying these forest products to Cebu for the last 26 years.
The act is a violation of Section 77 of Presidential Decree 705, which covers the Unlawful Possession of Forest Products.
Instead of walking away with cash, the three men were arrested and taken to jail. Inquest proceedings were conducted against them on January 29 at the Naga City Prosecutor’s Office.