High-quality rice seized
A total of 30,000 sacks of Vietnamese premium rice worth P32.5 million were confiscated from a warehouse in Malabon City on Tuesday by agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and National Food Authority. Acting on a warrant issued by Judge Amor Reyes of Branch 21 of the Manila Regional Trial Court, the combined team swooped down on the 1,000-square-meter warehouse at 42 Pineapple Road in Potrero. The raid was an offshoot of a memorandum of agreement between both agencies aimed at curbing rice hoarding and smuggling in the country. The warehouse has been importing and exporting rice without the necessary permits from the NFA, according to Senior Superintendent Christopher Laxa, CIDG deputy director for operations. A check of the confiscated rice showed that it was of a high-quality variety. The sacks were found in piles on the floor. Initial verification by the CIDG showed that the warehouse was not NFA-accredited and therefore not authorized to import and export rice. The owners of the warehouse, however, eluded arrest and are now the subject of a police manhunt. They were identified as Yong Yang Li, Willard Sichangco and Anthony Chua.—Kristine Felisse Mangunay
Cops nab slay suspect
A 33-year-old man was arrested before dawn Tuesday at a hospital several minutes after he stabbed dead a vendor during a fight. Randy Caling, a resident of Eastwind Homes Subdivision in Rodriguez, Rizal, was caught by operatives of the Manila Police District (MPD) homicide section while he was having himself treated for cuts, bruises and contusions at Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center. His alleged victim, Angel Tiamzon, 31, of Sulu Street in Sta. Cruz, was declared dead on arrival by attending doctors at the same hospital from three stab wounds in the body. MPD homicide section head Inspector Armando Macaraeg said the stabbing incident happened at around 1 a.m. at the corner of Tomas Mapua and Antipolo streets in Sta. Cruz. Macaraeg pointed out that before the incident, a man who had been in a drinking spree with Caling on Antipolo Street informed Tiamzon that he had heard the former brag that he had a previous relationship with the vendor’s wife. This, the MPD homicide section chief said, angered Tiamzon who confronted Caling over his boast which led to a fight.—Jeannette I. Andrade