21 firearms seized during raid in Agusan del Sur

SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur – Police authorities on Sunday announced the arrest of 15 persons, including a rookie policeman, and the seizure of 21 assorted firearms during near-simultaneous raids in the province.

Supt. Rodelio Roqueta, the assistant provincial police director, said Saturday’s raids—which were conducted in the towns of Talacogon, Bunawan, Esperanza, and Rosario, as well as Bayugan City—were part of the police’s campaign against loose firearms.

Roqueta said 15 of the confiscated firearms came from the office of Jogon Security Agency in Rosario town, where PO1 McBarry Vargas of the Sibagat police had been arrested along with several other suspects.

He said the raids were conducted by virtue of search warrants the police have obtained.

Asked if the seized guns—among them Armalite rifles, grenade launchers and a sub-machine gun—were unlicensed, Roqueta said the police were still validating them.

But he said the security agency had no coordination with the police prior to operating in the province.

“We cannot say but there is a possibility that the seized firearms could be used during this election period,” Insp. Christopher John Viajar, the Rosario police chief, said. JE