THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has recommended the prosecution of former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Deputy Director for Administration Ismael Fajardo and seven other individuals for importation of illegal drugs in connection with the smuggling of more than 300 kilos of shabu which were kept inside magnetic lifters last year.
In a 45-page resolution issued on April 8, 2019, by a four-man DOJ panel of prosecutors led by Mary Jane Sytat, the justice department found probable cause to indict Fajardo, Customs Intelligence Officer Jimmy S. Guban and dismissed Senior Supt. Eduardo P. Acierto. They were believed to be “core conspirators” in violating Section 4 (importation of illegal drugs) in relation to Section 26 of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Acierto earlier linked President Duterte’s former adviser Michael Yang to the country’s illegal drug trade, which the Palace has denied.
Also facing the same charges are private individuals Chan Yee Wah, Zhou Quan/Zhang Quan, consignees Vedasto Cabral Baraquel Jr. and his wife Maria Lagrimas Catipan of Vecaba Trading and Emily Luquingan, the ex-wife of Hsu Chun Chung.
Hsu, a Hong Kong national, was the reported liaison behind the 500-kilo shabu shipment that authorities found in the Manila International Container Port in August, hidden in two magnetic lifters.
The shipment was valued at P4.3 billion.
The NBI earlier named more than 40 individuals, including incumbent and former antidrug operatives and police officers, as well as customs personnel to be charged with importation of illegal drugs.
However, the DOJ said it found probable cause to indict only eight of these more than 40 individuals.
“The basic rule is that allegation is not evidence ad is not equivalent to proof. Charges based on mere suspicion and speculation, likewise, cannot be given credence. When the complainant relies on mere conjectures and suppositions, and fails to substantiate his allegations, the complaint must be dismissed for lack of merit,” the resolution read.
On the other hand, the panel endorsed to the Office of the Ombudsman for preliminary investigation the complaint for violation of Section 3 (e) of RA 3019 (dereliction of duty and grave misconduct) against former Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner and now Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) Director General Isidro Lapena, Fajardo, Acierto, Customs Intelligence Officer Jimmy Guban, dismissed Port of Manila District Collector Vener Baquiran, BOC x-ray Inspection Project Head Zsae Carrie de Guzman, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Officer Gorgonio Necessario, Customs Operating Office IV Dolores Domingo, BOC shift supervision Benjamin Cajucom, BOC x-ray operator and analyst Manuel Martinez, customs employees Joseph Dimayuga and John Mar Morales.
The panel also recommended to the Ombudsman the conduct of a preliminary investigation against Lapena, Baquiran, de Guzman, Morales and Cajucom for violation of Article 208 of the Revised Penal Code for failure to impose sanctions or penalize BOC officers involved in the controversy.
The controversy stemmed from the successive discoveries of abandoned magnetic lifters at the Port of Manila in August which contained 355 kilos and at a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite, also believed to have been used to smuggle 1.6 tons of shabu worth billions.
This prompted the House and the Senate to conduct a legislative inquiry on the matter and subsequently recommended the filing of charges against those responsible for the entry of the shipments.
Lapeña earlier insisted that there were no drugs in the four magnetic lifters found in a warehouse in Cavite, but admitted later that these may have contained illegal drugs.