SABLAN, Benguet – Combined police operatives were able to seize assorted illegally sawn lumber loaded in La Trinidad-bound truck in a checkpoint at Poblacion here recently.
Senior Inspector Azalea N. Rabena, chief of the Sablan Municipal Police Station, said the seized illegal lumber was composed of 190 pieces of different sizes of wood that was loaded in the said truck driven by Ariel Agsaoay Cader of Cardis, Bagulin, La Union.
Initial police investigation showed police operatives manning a checkpoint flagged down the aforesaid truck for a traffic violation but during the inspection, the police noticed the assorted illegally sawn lumber in different sizes loaded in the vehicle.
When asked to show if the lumber was covered by the appropriate permits, the driver and the occupants of the truck were only able to show photo copies of supposed permits.
However, Rabena said it was discovered during the inventory that the volume of the lumber loaded on the truck was more than the volume stated on the photo copy of the permits.
The truck and the lumber were impounded in the Sablan Municipal Police Station in preparation for the filing of the charges against the driver and the occupants of the vehicle.
By Dexter A. See