Tanod chief nabbed high-powered guns in Balamban

CEBU, Philippines — A chief tanod in Balamban town was nabbed by the authorities Saturday for illegal possession of high-powered firearms and explosives.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Cebu Province (CIDG-Cebu) served a search warrant against Prudencio Baculi, 51, in his residence in Barangay Lamesa, Balamban on Saturday morning.

According to Police Major Ronald Tolosa Jr., deputy chief for operations of CIDG-Cebu, they have confiscated long firearms from the possession of Baculi which include M16 rifle, carbine rifle, KG9, live ammunition, and a hand grenade.

Tolosa said they received reports a few weeks ago that there are civilians in the barangay who carry high-powered firearms.

Upon learning the information, they requested the Camp Crame to verify if the said civilians are allowed to carry high-powered firearms outside their residence.

Tolosa said that upon verification, Baculi, among the civilians, was not authorized and does not have a license to prove that he legally owns the said firearms.

"Upon verification, nahibal-an nato nga dili authorized, then we developed the case build-up and arrested the suspect through a search warrant," he said.

However, the confiscated firearms are subjected to a ballistic test.

"We are looking into the results of the ballistics kun ang firearms nga nakuha sa iyang possession were used in the incidents before, especially if these are involved in shooting incidents," he said.

Tolosa said they will continue to investigate to identify the source of Baculi's firearms.

The search warrant against the arrested suspect was issued by Judge Ruben Altubar of Branch 29 of the Toledo City Regional Trial Court.

Baculi is currently detained in Balamban Municipal Police Station while waiting for the cases to be against him. — GMR (FREEMAN)