PNP checking gun firms linked to Maralit brothers

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine National Police (PNP) is checking the supposed gun companies linked to a Filipino member of the New York Police Department, a federal customs agent in Los Angeles and their younger brother in the Philippines, who were accused of conspiring to sell high-powered guns to potential buyers in the Philippines.

Chief Superintendent Raul Petrasanta, director of the PNP-Firearms and Explosives Office, said he would verify whether officer Rex-Gene Maralit and his brothers Wilfredo and Arial were listed in companies accredited with the FEO to import and sell firearms in the country.

“I have yet to encounter (the Maralits), although I will check if there are accredited companies with their names as incorporators, they may have legitimate business here,” said Petrasanta.

Reports said evidence against the three brothers included photographs they emailed to one another that showed them posing with assault weapons.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn alleged that New York police officer Rex Maralit and his brother, US customs agent Wilfredo, relied on their brother Arial to locate customers in the Philippines and email them the gun orders.

The older brothers “then scoured the Internet for gun dealers and parts suppliers, and used their law enforcement credentials to obtain weapons,” prosecutors said in court papers.

The men shipped the guns and gun parts overseas in packages with phony content labels, including one reading, “industrial sliding door track,” the report said.

Petrasanta said the FEO has the list of legitimate importers and dealers of firearms in the Philippines and admitted he has no knowledge on the gun smugglers.

“I do not know about gun smugglers, the DI (Directorate for Intelligence) might have them,” he added.

Reports showed that Rex-Gene Maralit, 44, was assigned to NYPD headquarters in Manhattan. Wilfredo, 48, is a Customs and Borders Protection officer at Los Angeles International Airport.

The brothers were arrested on Thursday and were to appear in court later Friday.

Arial, 43, is believed to be still at large in the Philippines.