DAVAO CITY — US federal authorities had released and returned the private jet of preacher Apollo Quiboloy which was seized in February after gun parts and at least $350,000 in cash were found in the aircraft.
Quiboloy, head of the religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ based in Davao City and a close friend of President Rodrigo Duterte, uploaded a video of the jet’s arrival at Davao International Airport on Monday.
“It was an unfortunate event,” Quiboloy said of the plane’s seizure by US authorities in Hawaii on Feb. 15.
Reports from Hawaii media said Quiboloy was leaving the Honolulu airport with five other persons aboard the plane, a Cessna Citation Sovereign, when federal agents boarded the aircraft for inspection.
One of Quiboloy’s companions in the plane, Felina Salinas, was charged with attempted bulk cash smuggling.
Salinas, reported to be a business manager of a branch of Quiboloy’s group in Hawaii, was released on a $25,000 bond. —Allan Nawal