Police arrest woman tagged suspect in bird smuggling

BACOLOD CITY—Authorities arrested a woman here on Friday for wildlife trafficking.

Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya, head of the Bacolod community environment and natural resources office (Cenro), said Rosita Gonzaga Formentera, 57, was detained by police while awaiting charges for the unauthorized transport of at least 27 birds in a bus terminal here.

Formentera, a native of Liloan, Cebu, was arrested in an entrapment operation by the police and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources at Ceres Bus Terminal.

Formentera was arrested after an undercover policeman was able to buy from her two birds that belong to an endangered species and are believed to have been poached.

Gerangaya said found in the possession of Formentera were 20 endangered hornbills that are usually found in the forests of Panay, Negros, Masbate and Guimaras.

The birds were taken to the Cenro office here for safekeeping.

Gerangaya said under the Wildlife Act, Formentera faces a penalty of up to six months in prison for each bird that was found in her possession.

The entrapment operation followed weeks of surveillance by police against rampant trafficking of wildlife in bus terminals here.

Gerangaya said traffickers had become bolder in recent days. Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas