ON the morning of October 28, 2024, residents of a middle-class subdivision were surprised to see soldiers, men in anti-radiation protective suits, and National Bureau of Investigation agents swarmed into their neighbor's two-story house.
Barangay Gusa Kagawad Joseph Baltazar said he saw five Americans in camouflage uniform among the raiders who swarmed at the house of Roy Vistal, primary suspect of a syndicate that is engaged in the illegal trade of depleted uranium, a major ingredient in the making of an atomic bomb.
“I was told to stay away as far as possible from the house because they are after hazardous materials,” Baltazar said.
Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division Task Force Oro also help keep residents away from the two-story house in Mega Heights Subdivision in Barangay Gusa, this city.
The raid was the culmination of a two-month operation against the syndicate led by Vistal, his partner, Mae Vergel Zagala, alias “Madame Mae,” and Arnel Gimpaya Santiago, their agent.
NBI Director Jaime Santiago said NBI operatives raided three of the group's hideouts in Pasay, Mandaue, and Cagayan de Oro cities and seized 100 kilograms of Uranium-238 and the deadlier Uranium-235 which can be used for nuclear reactors.
In a press release published on the NBI website, the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute alerted the NBI of the group’s illicit trade in dangerous materials.
Santiago said the NBI conducted an entrapment operation in Pasay City that led to the arrest of Mae Zagala Vistal and Santiago. Roy Vistal managed to elude arrest.
He said a search in Vistal’s residence in Pasay City yielded three kilograms of black powder which turned out to be Uranium-238 and Uranium-235.
The investigation shifted to Mega Heights Subdivision where NBI agents found Vistal operating a laundry business from his house.
Barangay Gusa Chairman Marlon Tabac said the NBI agents came to him to check if they had the correct address.
“I called the president of the homeowners of Mega Heights who told them that they have the wrong address,” Tabac said.
After being given the correct address, Tabac said the NBI agents applied for a search warrant from the local regional trial court.
Santiago said the search led to the seizure of “a black pot weighing three to five kilos” of Uranium 238 and Uranium-235.
He said the team found that the hazardous material had already contaminated several parts of the house and family vehicle.
Learning the group got the materials from Cebu, Santiago said NBI agents conducted another search operation in Mandaue City and seized 60 kilograms of Uranium 238 and Uranium-235.
Santiago said the three suspects were presented for inquest at the Department of Justice for violating Republic Act no. 5207 or ”the Atomic Energy Regulatory and Liability Act of 1968.”
