Cop seeks probe of gun part smuggling

CLARK FREEPORT —A police official has ordered an investigation into the transport of 111 empty magazines for automatic rifles that the Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized from a Korean tourist who arrived at the Clark International Airport (CRK) here on Monday.

Chief Supt. Ronald Santos, officer in charge of the Central Luzon regional police, said that even if the magazines were empty, the Korean should have declared why he brought these into the country.

Kim Son-nal arrived aboard Aseana flight OS-707 that landed on CRK past

1 a.m. The magazines were packed in his luggage and discovered when it was made to pass through an X-ray machine.

“I have doubts about this incident. Why is he bringing these? Who was he supplying?” Santos told the Inquirer in a telephone interview.

BOC personnel released Kim without any charges.

The transport of such items is not prohibited in South Korea but banned in the Philippines, according to a BOC informant.

Kim told BOC personnel that the items belonged to his friend whom he did not identify. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon

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