Three persons have been charged with illegal trading of 100 kilograms of radioactive depleted uranium that were seized following their arrests in a series of operations in the country, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Monday, Dec. 9.
NBI Director General Jaime B. Santiago identified those arrested as Roy Cabesas Vistal, his partner Mae Mergel Zagala, and his agent Arnel Gimpaya Santiago.
They were charged before the Pasay City and Cagayan de Oro trial courts with violations of Section 6 in relation to Section 16 of Republic Act (RA) 5207, the Atomic Energy Regulatory and Liability Act of 1968.
The NBI said: “According to the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI), the depleted uranium poses a serious threat to national security because such can be used as source material for nuclear weapons. Terror organizations are after depleted uranium to improve their weaponry. Additionally, due to its radioactivity and toxicity, it can expose the people in close contact with it to health threats.”
It said the operations stemmed from the request from the PNRI to investigate the illegal trading of depleted uranium.
It said its investigators discovered that Vistal “offered for sale the said radioactive materials to the public by misrepresenting that the same are precious metals.”
It also said that the operatives first arrested Zagala and Arnel Gimpaya Santiago during an entrapment operation in Pasay City last Oct. 18 that resulted in “the recovery of 20 kilograms of metal bars and three kilograms of black powder, all positive for Uranium-235 and Uranium-238.”
On the same day, the NBI said its operatives and the PNRI implemented search warrants at Vistal’s residence in Pasay City where authorities recovered “about three kilograms of black powder, rock material, small metal materials, and other contaminated items that all tested positive for Uranium235 and Uranium-238.”
It said that “the PNRI discovered that Vistal’s residence in Pasay City is heavily contaminated with an undeterminable quantity of depleted uranium powder.”
“As part of PNRI’s safety protocols, the area is currently undergoing decontamination procedure before its release to the owners,” it also said.
Thereafter, the NBI said that manhunt operations were conducted that led to the arrest of Vistal last Oct. 28 in Cagayan de Oro City.
“The operation resulted in the seizure of several radioactive and contaminated materials, including a black pot, weighing three (3) to five (5) kilograms that tested positive for Uranium 238 and Uranium-235. The Team also detected severe surface contamination with Uranium-238 and Uranium-235 in the various areas of the subject residence, including the family vehicle,” said the bureau.
The NBI said that Vistal’s group sourced the depleted uranium in Cebu.
Because of this, joint operatives of the NBI, PNRI, the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) conducted a seizure operation in Mandaue City where they recovered about 60 kilograms of block metals, which tested positive for Uranium-238 and Uranium235.”
“May kaduktong pang operation ito (There will be more operations in connection with this case),” Director Santiago said.
During the operations, Director Santiago also assured that NBI agents wore protective gear against radiation and were also subjected to decontamination conducted by the PNRI.
“‘Yung mga subjects natin nadecontaminate na ng PNRI immediately upon arrest (The subjects were also decontaminated by the PNRI immediately upon arrest),” he also said.
In the meantime, Santiago said “iniimbestigahan natin maiige ‘yan sa tulong na nga po ng ating foreign counterparts (this is being investigated with the help of our foreign counterparts).”
He noted that those helping in the investigation include the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
“Actually doon sa tatlong nahulli natin, dalawa nakapagpiyansa na. ‘Yung isa na lang nasa atin pang detention cell (Among the three arrested, two have posted bail. Only one remains detained with the NBI),” he also said.