Taiwanes national Chao-Ching Hung, 35, had a KG 9 submachine pistol, a 9 mm Berreta and live bullets and magazines in his roller bag when it passed through the X-ray machine. A lead blanket shielded the deadly weapons from the X-ray. (CDN PHOTO/NORMAN MENDOZA)
Taiwanese arrested at Mactan airport after 4-day visit to Cebu; X-ray image showed suspicious black shape in his bag
In the X-ray monitor, a large black shape with no details appeared as the main contents of Chao-Ching Hung’s luggage.
The 35-year-old Taiwanese national stood by calmly as police personnel in the Mactan Cebu International Airport were called in to inspect his black roller bag past 4 p.m. yesterday.
While he waited in the pre-departure area, a K9 sniffing dog moved around agitated, signaling that contraband was inside the bag.
When police arrested him, all he would say was, “No English, no English.”
Inside the suitcase, police found a KG 9 submachine pistol with silencer, three magazines, a 9 mm Berreta pistol and 100 rounds of live 9mm ammunition.
The weapons and ammo were wrapped in a heavy lead blanket, the kind used as a shield for radiation and to avoid X-ray detection.
Hung didn’t argue or object when he was taken into custody. He seemed very calm, said Senior Supt. Joselito Salido, chief of the PNP Aviation Security Unit 7.
The confiscation and arrest took place a day after MCIAA officials held a press conference to assure that no “lalag bala” or bullet-planting racket was going on in the Cebu airport amid a national scandal over alleged extortion attempts in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, victimizing outbound passengers, mostly overseas foreign workers and the elderly.
Early this year, Mactan airport security also intercepted a Taiwanese national carrying three short firearms concealed in a miniature metal airplane.
He is still in the Lapu-Lapu City Jail pending the hearing of a criminal case for illegal possesison of firearms.
VIGILANT SCREENING
The X-ray screening personnel are civilian employees of the Office of Transportation Security of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).
“Thanks to our OTS personnel for actively keeping watch for illegal items despite being demoralized due to the recent controversy over reports of ‘tanim bala’ at NAIA,” said Salido.
“If the contraband had not been intercepted in the screening area, delikado yon (that’s dangerous) because there were firearms and live ammunition inside,” he said.
Salido said he suspected the guns were acquired in Danao City, where a clandestine gunmaking industry has been thriving for decades.
Hung’s passport identified him as a national of the Republic of China and was issued just days earlier on Oct. 27.
It said Hung arrived in Cebu on Nov. 1 and was given 59 days to visit the Philippines. The clean pages showed no other record of travel.
Hung was listed as single with a visa type 9(a).
However, a check with records of the Bureau of Immigration showed that Hung had traveled to Cebu last year.
Yesterday, he apparently arrived alone at the airport and was booked for a Cebu Pacific flight 5J 576 for Manila and a connecting flight 5J 310 for Taiwan.
The firearms were detected in the first of two X-ray machines at the pre-departure area manned by Jeffrey Hermosilla and Earl Amora of the OTS at 4:05 p.m.
At least eight CCTV cameras sweep this area, airport officials said.
Hung was allowed to use his mobile phone to call for an English-speaking friend for help.
His two phones were later seized as part of the evidence pending turn-over to the PNP Cyber Crime Unit.
Senior Supt. Salido said they were coordinating with the Chinese Consulate about the detainee and would have the suspect brought to the hospital for a medical inquest to check his physical condition before turning him over to the Lapu-Lapu City police for detention.
“Good job,” said MCIA General Manager Nigel Paul Villarete, who dropped by the OTS to commend the staff.
Villarete the other day told a news conference that an average of 100 bullets a month were confiscated at the Mactan airport from passengers during security checks. Most of the items were bullet amulets and empty shells used as souvenirs, he said.
From January to October this year, authorities seized 1,044 bullet amulets and empty shells, along with 219 live bullets at the MCIA. Only one criminal case was filed since the bullet-souvenirs and trinkets are usually returned after confiscation.
Jemar Nietes, OTS supervisor, said personnel were feeling low because of adverse publicity over the “tanim bala” issue but that they continue to do their job to ensure the safety of all passengers.