8 PNP generals to attend Japan seminar on gun control

Eight police generals leave for Tokyo today for a four-day meeting on gun control, which has been called by Japan’s law enforcers amid concerns over rising gun smuggling cases in the Asia Pacific region.

The Philippine National Police delegation includes Chief Superintendent Charlemagne Alejandrino, head of the PNP Director for Plans; Chief Supt. Geary Barias, head of the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management; Wilfredo Garcia, Director for Operations; Chief Supt. Noe Wong, chief of Comptroller; and Chief Supt, Arturo Cacdac, chief of the PNP Crime Laboratory Group. The names of the three other generals were not immediately available.

Aside from gun control, the PNP and the Japanese police will also discuss new techniques on crime scene investigations.

Japanese authorities are alarmed by the growing weapons trade in the region, which boosts the activities of notorious crime syndicates like the Yakuza.

The PNP cited for instance two gun smuggling cases in October 2000 and July 2006 involving more than 200 high-powered firearms including the British-made Heckler & Koch MP5A sub-machine guns being shipped from the Philippines to Taiwan. Documents showed police seized some of the firearms.– Cecille Suerte Felipe