A Pasay City metropolitan trial court has sentenced a man caught smuggling endangered reptiles at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Neil Ryana Dysoco was sentenced to a jail term of 3 months and one day up to six months for violation of Republic Act 9147, the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 2001.
Judge Allan B. Ariola of Branch 48, Metropolitan Trial Court of Pasay City, also directed Dysoco to pay a fine of P20,000.
He was apprehended by Customs and DENR officers at NAIA while transporting to Manila some 63 reptiles (54 Iguanas; 2 Basilisks; 4 Veiled Chameleon and 3 Bearded Dragon) from Bangkok.
Dysoco was apprehended by BOC-NAIA personnel, ESS-NAIA, CIIS-NAIA and XIP-NAIA operatives, in collaboration with DENR-NCR operatives last February 2019, while illegally importing 63 reptiles which were surreptitiously concealed in his luggage. He did not have an import permit from Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The seized wildlife were immediately turned over to the Wildlife Traffic Monitoring Unit of the DENR.
The BOCÂ NAIA stressed that the said conviction clearly manifests the seriousness and commitment of the Bureau of Customs under the leadership of Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero, in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), to penalize smugglers of illegal goods and contraband; and will serve as a deterrent and warning to others engaging in similar illegal activities.Â