ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A Vietnamese vessel and three Filipino boats loaded with 3,275 metric tons of smuggled rice and high-powered firearms were seized near an island off Sulu yesterday, according to a military official.
A naval task force unit headed by Lt. Cmdr. Richard Rosales and 1st Lt. Ed Leonelle Marvin Mapalo, commanding officer of the 64th Marine Company, intercepted the four vessels near Patah Island at past 3 a.m., said Capt. Maria Rowena Muyuela, spokesperson for the Western Mindanao Command.
The military said 17 Vietnamese were aboard the foreign vessel while 30 crewmembers and 134 laborers were on the three Filipino boats.
M/V AN BIEN-89-ALCI had 17 Vietnamese crew led by ship captain Nguyen Van Loi of Sunrise Ship and Trading Co. while the Filipino vessels were identified as M/L KH, M/L Fatima Nurmina and M/L BOY 1.
Muyuela said government operatives, who were under the control of Joint Task Group Zambasulta, discovered that the Vietnamese vessel was loaded with 116,000 sacks of imported rice.
M/L KH was loaded with 7,000 sacks of rice, M/L Fatima Nurmina with 1,000 sacks and M/L BOY 1 with 7,000 sacks.
Authorities and local rice traders estimated the market value of the intercepted sacks of rice from the Filipino boats at P104.8 million.
The vessels and their crew will be towed to this city for further investigation.