18 arrested for illegal quarrying —NBI

Operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation-Batangas District Office (NBI-BatDO) arrested 18 individuals for illegal quarrying in Batangas, the bureau announced Friday.

According to the NBI, its agents conducted an entrapment operation with deputization authority from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Barangay Celestino, Lipa City on August 1, Thursday.

This resulted in the arrest of 18 individuals for violation of Section 103 of Republic Act 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

“Arrested individuals were caught in the act of extracting earth materials in a vegetated area without a permit from the Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office of Batangas Province,” it said in a statement.

NBI Director Jaime Santiago said that the equipment used by the individuals will form part of the evidence against them.

They were presented for inquest proceedings before the Prosecutor’s Office.

Santiago said the operation stemmed from information received by the BatDO that an illegal quarry operation was rampant in the area.—LDF, GMA Integrated News