Wayward truck yields illegal lumber worth P1.2 M

PLARIDEL, Bulacan — It was an accident which was a blessing for law enforcers.

A six-wheeler truck which overturned along the southbound stretch of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) here turned out to contain illegally cut first-class yellow narra lumber hidden in sacks of rice hulls and piles of wood parquet pieces.

Police and security personnel of the Manila North Tollways Corp., which runs NLEX, were surprised to find the concealed 5,000 to 6,000 board feet of first class yellow narra, estimated to be worth P1.2 million.

Senior Superintendent Benedict Michael Fokno, Bulacan police chief, told The STAR that the green Isuzu Forward six-wheeler truck is owned by a certain Agnes Mariano and belongs to a company called Golden Trading. 

The truck driver, Joel John Gabatin, was injured during the accident and was rushed to the nearest hospital.

Fokno said the wood parquet pieces, despite having pertinent documents, will still be impounded together with the illegal narra lumber.

He said if legally traded wood products are found among illegal ones and the banned products constitute two percent of the total volume, they should be held for investigation, too.

He said the "hot" lumber came from Paracela, Mountain Province and was bound for Manila.

Cutting of narra, a hardwood which sells for at least P200 per board foot, is prohibited by law.

Fokno said the narra lumber was able to elude checkpoints because it was neatly concealed among the sacks of rice hulls and piles of wood parquet pieces.