Justice department officials had confirmed that the government’s case involving the seized illegal-drugs shipment could be weakened by questionable chain of custody, Senate probers were told on Tuesday.
Sen. Richard J. Gordon, who chairs the ongoing Senate inquiry into the P6.4-million shabu shipment from China, admitted that the broken chain of custody of the seized drugs could “weaken the prosecution”, even as he expressed optimism that “the case is not dead”.
This, after Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson Sr. noted that from law enforcers’ point, the case is getting complicated after authorities “split custody” of the 604 kilos of shabu between the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Customs, which seized the illegal-drug shipment in a follow-up operation at a Valenzuela warehouse.
“Separate cases were filed by different law agencies,” Gordon pointed out. “I don’t want to advertise the weakness of the prosecution, but I am aghast at statements here,” he said, adding cases should be filed against erring officers.
Gordon voiced concerns that big drug-haul cases are being thrown out due to broken chain of custody of the evidence on drug seizures.
He cited reports about a drug case being dismissed four months after a raid in January due to alleged infidelity in custody of evidence.
“We have a very sordid record of drug cases,” Gordon lamented, insisting that “when a drug case ensuing from a raid is already filed, it should not be dismissed. I hope you understand my outburst.”
The senator added he just “wanted to make sure we win cases against illegal drugs…help us unmask the corrupt and reveal those doing wrong.”
This developed as Lacson clarified in an interview that, “The law is clear: there are specific timelines that should be followed to destroy seized drugs by burning.”
For instance, Lacson cited the case of a big drug haul in San Juan last December, but has yet to be destroyed even after the charges have been filed in court.