Navotas fisherman caught with explosives

Police have arrested a fisherman in the coastal town of Navotas for manufacturing illegal explosives for use in illegal fishing operations. Superintendent Billy Beltran, Navotas police chief, identified the suspect as Jason Alegre, 20, of 2 Interior Davila street in Barangay Tabing Dagat West.

A police team led by Chief Inspector Michael Angelo Sunega with SPO4 Mario Arias and SPO3 Wilmor Alamani seized from Alegre 21 bottles of the homemade explosives.

"The 21 bottles of softdrinks were filled with ammonium nitrate used in illegal fishing," Sunega said.

Alegre was apprehended at around 8:45 p.m. last Thursday while in the act of filling empty softdrink bottles with ammonium nitrate in a shanty near his house. He had been the subjet of a week-long surveillance operation, Sunega said.

"We have intensified our drive against the manufacturer of these explosives, but several fishermen have managed to elude arrest with help from some residents who benefit from their activity," Sunega explained.

Sunega said he believes the manufacture of explosives used in dynamite fishing involves more than one person. The financiers are most likely owners of fishing boats, he added.

Sunega noted that fishermen now need to venture to the high seas unlike before that they can have a good catch near the shore. He noted that dynamite fishing has exacted a heavy toll on corral reefs.

"Natural sanctuaries for the fish on the shore are now destroyed so fishermen must go to deep waters," he noted.

Charges of illegal possession and manufacture of explosives are being readied against Alegre.