7 Indons, 5 Malaysians held for oil smuggling at Poro Point

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union — Seven Indonesian and five Malaysian crew members of a tugboat and a barge were arrested at the Poro Point seaport here yesterday for allegedly attempting to smuggle oil.

Port security guards caught the foreign sailors unloading oil from their tugboat MT Sungai Julan 1 onto a waiting tanker docked at the harbor.

Edward Baltazar, district collector of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), said the MT Sungai Julan 1’s captain Muhhamad Tahir was arrested along with fellow Indonesians and tugboat crewmen Ronal Sitompul, Haidar Ma Mur, Abdul Rahkman, Akhmad Ishak, and a certain Nursalim and Kamin.

The arrested Malaysians were Chew Mee Thong, Handry Lak, Samuel Bin, Irewan Bin and Mohd Arifin.

Also held for questioning were shipping agent Renato Daganta and BOC personnel Boy Abalos and Maceda Luquingan. Abalos and Luquingan, along with maritime policeman Roderick Nebrida, allegedly tried but failed to convince the port guards to release the suspects. It was not clear if Nebrida was also held for questioning.

"Security guards caught in flagrante the crew transferring crude oil from the tugboat to a tanker. The illegal transaction was allegedly arranged between the ship’s captain and a certain Renato Daganta, a ship agent," Baltazar said.

Baltazar said the tugboat, with the barge in tow, was on its way from Lahat Dato, Malaysia to Quan Zhuo, China when its captain decided to head for Poro Point purportedly to seek shelter from bad weather and replenish provisions. The tugboat was carrying 77,058 liters of crude oil while the barge was loaded with 1,400 logs.

Edgar Allan Erpelo, port security officer, said that shortly after the discovery of the smuggling attempt, Daganta called someone on his mobile phone. Minutes later, Abalos, Luquingan, and Nebrida arrived and tried to talk the port guards out of detaining the suspects.

The tanker is registered under the Bauang Nisce Transport Corp. The North Pole Maritime Services based in Poro Point is reportedly the consignee of the illegal shipment.