SEARCH YIELD. Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) operatives confiscate an assault rifle with a sniper scope and thousands of ammunition rounds on Monday evening (March 27, 2023) at a sugar mill compound in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental. The CIDG have been conducting a series of raids since Friday by virtue of a search warrant issued by a Mandaue City court to former Negros Oriental Gov. Pryde Henry Teves, president of the company that owns the sugar mill. (Photo courtesy of the Joint Task Force Negros)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Operatives of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) have seized an assault rifle with a sniper scope, three magazines, and thousands of ammunition rounds in the premises of a sugar mill in Sta. Catalina town, Negros Oriental province.
The items were recovered at another area of the sugar mill on Monday evening, during the fourth day of the continuous implementation of a search warrant at the HDJ Bayawan Agri-venture Corp. at Sitio Tolong, Barangay Caranoche in Sta. Catalina, a report from the Joint Task Force Negros said.
The series of raids, which started on Friday, was carried out by virtue of a search warrant for violations of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act that was issued by Judge Allan Francisco Garciano of Mandaue City.
The search warrant’s subject is former Negros Oriental Gov. Pryde Henry Teves, the president of the company that owns the sugar mill.
Among the confiscated items were 359 rounds for Cal.9mm; 114 rounds for Caliber 5.7x28mm; 100 rounds for Caliber .380; 149 rounds for Caliber .25; 76 rounds for Caliber 5.56mm; 852 rounds for Caliber 7.62mm; and 42 fired cartridges for Caliber 9mm; one piece fired cartridge for Caliber 5.56mm; one rifle bag; and one travel bag.
In the previous days, the CIDG-led search yielded several firearms, explosives, and ammunition that were recovered in separate areas in the sugar mill compound.
CIDG chief legal officer Col. Thomas Valmonte earlier said the operation was not connected to the mass shooting that resulted in the deaths of Gov. Roel Degamo and eight others with 17 others wounded last March 4 at the governor’s residential compound in Pamplona town.
The search is in line with the agency's program to go after illegal and loose firearms, he said.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry (Spearhead) Division leadership lauded the 302nd Infantry Brigade based in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental, for providing support to the PNP in its law enforcement operation in Central Visayas.
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines in Negros is firm on its commitment to the people. We are serious in our mandate to uphold the rule of law and to maintain public order and safety in this part of the country,” Brig. Gen. Marion Sison, JTF and 3ID commander, said in a media release. (PNA)
