MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized yesterday 10 barrels of M-14 rifles, less than a week after intercepting an initial batch of the gun parts.
Customs police chief Superintendent Joey Yuchongco said the cargo was the last batch of the gun parts sent to Jaydi Miranda, the same consignee of the 20 M-14 rifle barrels the bureau confiscated last week.
“This parcel from US arrived at Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) and was declared by the same sender and consignee as chocolates,” he said.
He said the BOC was able to uncover the arrival of the remaining barrels based on the information they retrieved from the Facebook account of Miranda.
Marlon Alameda, BOC-NAIA district commander, said the items were mailed to Miranda by Jovit Cruz from Orlando, Florida. He said the rifle barrels can be sold for as much as P30,000 each.
Aside from a total of 30 M-14 rifle barrels intercepted at the CMEC, the BOC has seized 23 barrels and six slides for 1,911 .40 caliber pistol and an upper receiver of an M-16 Armalite rifle since November. – Helen Flores, Rudy Santos