NBI nabs gunrunning suspect, seizes firearms cache

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has seized a cache of firearms and ammunition worth about P2 million and arrested an alleged gunrunner during a buy-bust operation in a Makati City condominium Wednesday night.

In a press conference, NBI director Nestor Mantaring identified the suspect as Benjamin Joseph Raymundo Ramos, a resident of Mayfair Mansion in Legazpi Village, Makati City. Ramos declined to comment, upon the advice of his lawyer.

He was charged with the unlawful manufacture, sale, acquisition, disposition or possession of firearms or ammunition before the Makati city prosecutor’s office.

Among the items the NBI seized are 50 9mm Beretta pistols with no serial numbers, which Ramos allegedly sells for about P20,000 each; a Heckler & Koch MP5 assault rifle; a .22 caliber Ruger rifle; a Browning 12-gauge shotgun; and a Colt M-4 rifle, among others.

Mantaring said that on June 17, the NBI received information that a certain Benjo, later identified as the suspect, was selling guns in Makati City. Ramos allegedly introduced himself as an arms dealer to an undercover agent who posed as a security agency owner and offered a caliber .9 mm Beretta at a discounted price of P20,000. The gun had no serial number, and he boasted that it was smuggled into the country from Italy.

Ramos also offered other items such as sniper rifles and stun grenades.

According to the Firearms and Explosives Division of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Ramos is not an authorized distributor or dealer of any kind of firearm.  – Sandy Araneta