Cops seize illegal lumber shipment in Sultan Kudarat

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines -- Police seized 13,000 board feet of undocumented lumber in an operation in the seaside town of Palimbang in Sultan Kudarat on Wednesday.

 

The forest products, cut from timber from a protected watershed in Barangay Malisbong, a coastal village in Sultan Kudarat, were to be delivered to Cotabato City using a five-tonner diesel boat.

 

“Some workers were loading the lumber into the watercraft when policemen arrived, responding to tips relayed by local residents,” said Supt. Romeo Galgo, Jr, a ranking staff member of the Police Regional Office 12 in General Santos City.   

 

Galgo said the raid was carried out by a combined team of the municipal police offices of Palimbang and nearby Maitum town in Sarangani.   

 

The raiding team was backed by combat-ready officers from the 3rd Maneuver Company of the Regional Public Safety Battalion.

 

Officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources estimated the value of the lumber at P390,000.

 

The police also held for questioning Pagal Dabpil, the skipper of the boat to be used in transporting the contraband from Barangay Malisbong.

 

Galgo said investigators are now validating the reported involvement of Nosradin Tacbil, an incumbent barangay councilor in Malisbong, in the attempt to smuggle the illegal lumber from Palimbang to Cotabato City.