US retiree nabbed at airport for bringing pistol

Retired US Navy man, Timothy Lee Lindsey, 66, said he thought it was all right for him to bring a firearm to the airport.

“It’s hard to say if I have violated a law because it’s different from maritime laws,” he said.

Security personnel at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) apprehended Lindsey after they found one .45 caliber pistol inside his carton box at 12:45 a.m. yesterday.

Timothy Lee Lindsey, 66, is stopped at the Mactan Cebu International Airport with a pistol in his baggage. (CDN PHOTO/NORMAN MENDOZA)

Lindsey, who now works as a tugboat captain in California, was brought to the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office for inquest proceedings.

His arrest came on the heels of last Thursday’s apprehension of 35-year-old Taiwanese Chao Ching Hung who visited Cebu for four days.

Legal assistance

Hung was arrested by airport police after his suitcase yielded one KG 9 submachine pistol with silencer, three magazines, one 9 mm Berreta pistol and 100 rounds of 9mm ammunition.

Hung is detained at the Lapu-Lapu City police detention cell on a charge of illegal possession of firearms.
Lindsey was placed in the same police cell.

However, Lindsey received legal assistance from the US Embassy during his inquest proceedings.
Lindsey was charged with violating Republic Act 10591 or the Firearms and Ammunitions Law.

Agreement

Based on a report by the Aviation Security Unit police, Lindsey submitted his carton box for X-ray screening.
Jihan Vergara of the Office of Transportation Security (OTS) noticed the shape of a firearm in the image on his monitor.

Insp. Marvin Bolic and PO1 Jasper Hiponla asked Lindsey to open the carton box.

Inside they found a pistol with one magazine and two live bullets in a plastic tool box with some native products.

Lindsey said he thought there was an agreement between the US and the Philippines that allowed him to bring a firearm as a retired Navy man.

Lindsey said he had been to the Philippines several times when he was still with the US Navy.

Cooperative

Lindsey had a driver’s license but no other documents. He was cooperative with law enforcers, said Senior Supt. Joselito Salido, chief of the Aviation Security Unit-7.

Lindsey missed his flight to he US via Incheon on Korean Airlines flight at 12:45 a.m.

This was his third visit to the country since last year.  He has a girlfriend in Ormoc City, Leyte province who arrived in Cebu after he called her up.

Salido said Lindsey told them that the pistol was pawned to him by a friend for P7,000.

Lindsey declined to answer reporters on his ownership of the gun. Salido said Lindsey called up his daughter who’s a lawyer in the US.

Lindsey plans to post bail if the court allows him. Salido said Lindsey’s case is bailable.

Jemar Nietes, supervisor of OTS, said their personnel monitors all luggage that passes through their scanners.

Passengers will be asked to open their luggage in keeping with the “no contact” policy of OTS staff to ensure transparency.

Vigilance

Reports of a “tanim-bala” or bullet-planting scam that victimizes mostly overseas workers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport has drawn public outrage in recent weeks.

MCIA general manager Nigel Paul Villarete said Lindsey’s arrest indicated that they will maintain their vigilance on security at the airport.

In light of the recent crash of a Russian aircraft over the Sinai, Villarete said they are looking at revisiting security and screening protocols.

“Civil aviation remains the safest form of transportation worldwide, ever since man started to fly and we want to keep it that way,” he said.

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