5 piranha traders freed over technicality

MANILA, Philippines - A businessman and four of his companions arrested Thursday night for allegedly trading in piranha fingerlings were released yesterday due to a technicality.

Police sources said Gary Reynold Alcantara, 28, a petshop owner in Cainta, Rizal; James Jomel Gabriel, 33; Karl Frederick Felizardo, 25; Rodrigo Luciano, 27; and Luciano’s partner, Joan Tobias, 28, were “released for further investigation” by the city prosecutor’s office after representatives from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) failed to appear at the inquest proceedings.

The BFAR witnesses were supposed to corroborate the testimony of the police officers and confirm that the 60 fingerlings seized from the suspects were indeed piranhas. A BFAR operative posed as a buyer to set up the sting operation.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Jude Wilson Santos said Friday BFAR operatives and policemen from the Caloocan City Police Station Investigation and Detective Management Branch raided a house along Caimito street in Barangay 79 Thursday night.

Prior to the suspects’ release, the police were preparing to charge them with violating the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 (Republic Act 8550) in relation to a BFAR administrative order penalizing the illegal importation and trade of prohibited fish, particularly piranha.

According to the BFAR, a person caught with a live piranha – a flesh-eating fish that attacks in large numbers prey larger than them – can be jailed from six months to four years and fined P500 to P5,000.

In an interview at their cell, the suspects said they are aware that trading in piranhas is a crime in the Philippines. Alcantara said times were lean and though they do not regularly trade in piranhas, they merely grabbed the opportunity to be brokers by bridging end users and suppliers.

“We only got P1,500 from this transaction,” Alcantara said, adding that the suppliers were the ones who made the most profit.

Luciano told The STAR they had not been earning money as pet shop owners and were forced by circumstances to engage in the illegal trade. “We were set up. We were forced to produce the goods which led to our arrest,” the suspects complained.

Alcantara said he knows where the suppliers live but would not cooperate with the police. “They might get back at us, our families would suffer,” he said.