PCG: Coast Guard Station Masbate together with Coast Guard K9 and Coast Guard Special Operations Unit successfully apprehended two (2) persons onboard Mbca “Phoenix-2” after they were caught carrying endangered species onboard during the conduct of the Mandatory Pre-Departure Inspection at Masbate Port on January 28.

Said vessel was bound to Pilar, Sorsogon. 

The suspects were identified as Erwin Laurio and Joseph Bajar, both residents of Mobo, Masbate.

The boarding and inspection team accounted the following confiscated marine species:

                                 52 kilograms of alligator pipefish

                                 33.5 kilograms of sea cucumber

                                      30 kilo grams of sharks fin

                                          4 kilograms of clam

The two suspects are presently under the custody of CGS Masbate and will be facing charges for violating Republic Act 10654 otherwise known as “the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, sec 102 : fishing or taking of rare, threatened or endangered species. – (a) it shall be unlawful to fish or take, catch, gather, sell, purchase, possess, transport, export, forward or ship out aquatic species listed in appendix i of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of wild flora and fauna (CITES), or those categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as threatened and determined by the department as such.

Meanwhile, representatives from the Bureau of Aquatic and Fisheries Resources – Region 5 went aboard CGS Masbate and gathered samples of the apprehended marine species for further testing and proper disposition.