Police confiscate materials for fishing explosives in Basilan operation

COTABATO CITY --- The police seized 200 kilos of ammonium nitrate and components for at least 500 fishing dynamites in an operation Sunday in the seaside Lantawan town in Basilan.

Brig. Gen. Manuel Abu, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Monday Lantawan municipal police personnel, led by Capt. Said Omar Ismael, found the components for fishing explosives in a hut on a beach in Barangay Matikang in Lantawan.

Basilan Gov. Jim Salliman told reporters Monday he is grateful to the personnel of the Lantawan municipal police station for the immediate confiscation of the materials for fishing explosives, acting on tips from vigilant villagers. 

“The seized materials and blasting charges for fishing dynamites can also be used as tactical explosives if it gets to the hands of terrorists. Good enough we don’t have them in Basilan anymore,” said Salliman, chairperson of the provincial peace and order council. 

Ismael said their operation was premised on reports by barangay residents supporting the governor’s anti-illegal fishing campaign who hinted that a group of transient fishermen keeps fishing dynamites in Sitio Hansipak Subah in Barangay Matikang. 

The cache Ismael and his men recovered Sunday consisted of eight sacks of ammonium nitrate, supposedly a plant fertilizer but can be used as a combustion powder if soaked in kerosene, detonation primers and ignition fuses.

Abu said the seized materials for fishing dynamites are more than enough for improvised explosive devices that can flatten a five storey building or destroy large military armored combat vehicles. 

He said he will issue a special citation for the Lantawan municipal police office for the feat.