Police seize firearms from couple

Police arrested a couple allegedly working as illegal arms dealers for terrorist groups and rogue politicians in a buy-bust operation in Valenzuela City on Sunday night.Authorities seized P1.2mn worth of weapons and ammunition sealed in boxes bearing the name of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), indicating that they were taken from the military arsenal.The Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Director General Oscar Albayalde, and Police Director Guillermo Eleazar of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) identified the suspected arms dealers as Edgardo and Rosemarie Medel.The Medels allegedly worked for the Abu Sayyaf Group, Maute Group, other terror groups and rogue politicians, the PNP said.The couple will face charges for violating Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition.Officials presented 12,893 rounds of live ammunition, three high-powered firearms, and boxes bearing the name of AFP in Camp Crame at noon on Monday.Albayalde said the buy-bust operation was launched by the NCRPO-Regional Special Operations after a week-long intelligence and surveillance efforts resulting from an anonymous tip. The Medels were arrested after receiving P1.2mn in marked money. Two poseur-buyers told the couple they needed weapons and ammunition for the 2019 elections.Albayalde said a retired soldier living near Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija was connected to the couple and was being investigated. “We cannot really say if the seized ammunition and guns came from Fort Magsaysay. He was probably assigned in the supply section during his term and he hid it…There is a possibility that it was stocked here a long time ago,” he said.Albayalde also said police would co-ordinate with the AFP to investigate how the couple obtained boxes bearing the name of the AFP. The boxes and bullets bore serial numbers.The PNP is also verifying information about the politicians who had supposedly ordered illegal firearms and explosives from the couple.“It is still a subject for validation although the couple is not yet revealing any names of politicians…They will be subject for police operation for follow-up operations although we cannot charge them immediately,” Albayalde said.The military will conduct its own investigation, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Monday.“We’ll investigate how these (ammunition and firearms) ended up in the wrong hands,” Lorenzana told reporters in a text message.