Lynard Allan Bigcas, a Mindanao-based car dealer and importer is being accused of smuggling luxury vehicles in the Philippines and believed to have a link with smuggling ring in the U.S.
In a separate raids plotted by the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), along with United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent James Windsor, they seized a total of 25 luxury cars and 15 motorbikes including a Corvette, Chevrolet Tahoe SUV and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) at Bigcas' homes in Poblacion, Talakag, Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro City.
The vehicles include a Harley Davidson Martin Brothers motorcycle that was stolen from a Hollywood scriptwriter Skip Woods (Swordfish, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, GI Joe and the A-Team) in Houston, Texas last year. The bike is reportedly worth $80,000 (P3.4 million).
Houston police traced the bike theft to a gang that ships expensive American-made motorcycles to Asia via Mexico and Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, authorities also believed that Bigcas is involved in illegal weapons trade.
During their raid in Cagayan de Oro, NBI agents recovered a "black book" that listed clients from influential political clans in Mindanao that have bought high-powered firearms from the United States.
The weapons include .50-caliber rifles and M4 assault rifles that could fall in the hands of terrorists, investigators said.
A senior security consultant of Orion Support Inc. said the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are now trying to identify the other players in the smuggling syndicate amid Washington's increased attention on terror threats.
- Source
