ZAMBOANGA CITY – A navy patrol seized assorted seashells worth over P1.75 million from a boat that smuggled the contraband to Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, the Naval Forces Western Mindanao said Monday.
It said navy men spotted M/V Mardia moored inside a private pier in Baliwasan village and inspected the boat and discovered the seashells hidden in 13 sacks. The prohibited cargo came from the town of Pangutaran in Sulu, one of 5 provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.
The weekend operations resulted in the confiscation of assorted seashells, mostly Helmet (Cassidae) and Top shells (Trochidae).
“The confiscated seashells were then turned over to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. As per conducted joint inventory, the watercraft was loaded with thirteen sacks of prohibited seashells with a market value of P1.75 million. M/V Mardia violated Section 102 of Republic Act 10654 or the amended Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998,” the Navy said.
It said the species of the seized seashells are included in CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), an international agreement between governments which aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
“Naval Forces Western Mindanao and the Philippine Navy as a whole, with its operating units, will continuously endeavor to not only protect the seawaters of Western Mindanao from any atrocities and sea jacking at sea but also in one with the government to promote the conservation and protection of rare, threatened and endangered species,” it said.
But the Navy did not say if any of the crew members of the boat had been detained and charged in court. It also failed to release the names of the crew and their captain and the owner of the smuggled seashells. (Zamboanga Post)
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