Gun, ammo found in Fil-Am's bag at NAIA

Airport authorities have seized a .22 pistol and five bullets from a departing Filipino-American at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.

Personnel from the Office of Transportation Security (OTS) found the gun and bullets in the 54-year-old Ramon Velasco Loarca's handbag on Wednesday morning.
 
It was not clear if the bullets were live or not. The man has confessed to bringing the gun and bullets with him. The gun has the serial number L025482, according to OTS.
 
Loarca, who was on his way to the United States via a Delta Airlines flight, is now under the custody of the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group.
 
Complainants in the case that will be filed against Loarca are PO3 Philip Ramirez, Bureau of Investigations officer Arvin Caleon, Ebwin Corvera, and airline witness Liezel Victor, the OTS said in a text message to GMA News Online.
 
Airport authorities are currently on hot seat following reports on the so-called "laglag-bala" extortion racket victimizing travellers and overseas Filipino workers.
 
 
Abaya, one of the respondents in a complaint filed by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) over the alleged extortion scheme, said 1,813 or 0.004 percent of the 53.3 million passengers last year were caught with ammunition in their luggage. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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