Senior Supt. Armando Radoc (right) presents assorted illegal firecrackers seized in two police operations in Lapu-Lapu City. (CDN PHOTO/NORMAN MENDOZA)
Illegal firecrackers with an estimated value of P32,000 were confiscated in separate police operations in Lapu-Lapu City last Monday afternoon.
No one was arrested during the confiscations.
Vendors fled upon seeing the policemen, said Senior Supt. Armando Radoc, acting chief of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office.
The seized firecracker came from barangays Babag and Kalawisan.
Firecracker vendors are allowed to sell their goods only in Babag, the area designated by police for authorized vending of pyrotechnics and firecrackers.
Some firecrackers sold in Babag were still confiscated because they were outsized illegal types that violated a law regulating safe limits of explosive content of firecrackers.
Seized big firecrackers included Picolo, Yolanda, Dalogdog (Thunder), Super Whistle Bomb and Coil, which was the biggest firecracker containing explosive powder.
The seized firecrackers were brought to the police headquarters after the operations by the City Intelligence Branch (CIB) and Police Station 3.
Radoc said the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas has ordered a crackdown on illegal firecrackers.
Radoc said the order was part of the police’s campaign against untoward firecrackers-related incidents during the celebration of the New Year.
Radoc said police will continue to monitor the sale of firecrackers until December 31.
Last week, police also seized P10,000 worth of banned firecrackers in Babag.
A week before Christmas Day, police also arrested a woman for manufacturing firecrackers in barangay Gun-ob.