DEPARTMENT of Lands and Natural Resources Secretary Sylvan Igisomar said one handgun and eight rifles are missing at the Division of Fish and Wildlife.
He said after he was made aware of the missing firearms in May 2023, he immediately informed the Department of Public Safety.
“A joint investigation ensued shortly thereafter. The investigation is still ongoing,” he added.
“DLNR remains committed to the safety and well-being of the community and has instructed all department employees to fully cooperate with the investigation,” he said. “We hope to find these firearms swiftly and properly store them and find out how this happened and make sure appropriate steps are taken to ensure this never occurs again.”
In a police report dated May 5, 2023, Igisomar told investigators that he got a notification from the Office of the Public Auditor on May 1, 2023, stating that OPA wanted to conduct a survey of all firearms issued by the CNMI government.
Igisomar said he forwarded the information to Fish and Wildlife Director Manny Pangelinan and told him that the deadline for the survey was on May 5, 2023.
On May 4, 2023, Igisomar said he learned from Pangelinan that there were nine firearms missing — one handgun and eight rifles.
The DLNR secretary reported the incident to DPS.
For his part, Pangelinan, in a memorandum dated May 4, 2023, to DPS Commissioner Clement Bermudes, requested a full investigation of the missing rifles and handgun.
Pangelinan told the commissioner that “DFW conducted an inventory of its rifles and handguns under the custodian of DFW and has found that eight rifles and one Glock 34 handgun were unaccounted for and considered missing. I have notified the Director of Procurement and Supply of these findings to update their listing. With this said, I am requesting your assistance to conduct a full investigation of the missing rifles and handgun. My office and staff will give its full cooperation on this investigation.”
Pangelinan also provided DPS a copy of his letter and memorandum to Procurement and Supply; the complete gun inventory list provided to Procurement and Supply; the inventory notes provided to DFW; and the extracted inventory list of the missing handgun firearms.
Sgt. Fred Sato, DPS public information officer, told Variety that the incident is under investigation.
“As soon as there is additional updated information, I will notify the media,” he added.
