DOJ drops drug raps vs Faeldon

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice has dropped drug trading raps filed against former Customs Chief Nicanor Faeldon over the P6.4 billion shabu shipment that slipped past the Bureau of Customs.

In the copy of information or charge sheet released to the members of the media, Faeldon's name was missing. Instead, the DOJ indicted the following over the P6.4 billion shabu shipment that slipped through the BOC:

• Chen Ju Long a.k.a. Richard Chen
• Li Guang Feng a.k.a. Manny Li
• Dong Yi Shen a.k.a. Kenneth Dong or Yi Shan Dong
• Mark Ruben Taguba II
• Eirene Mae Tatad
• Teejay Marcellana
• Chen I-min
• Jhu Ming Jyun
• Chen Rong Huan

In a statement, the DOJ said that the panel of prosecutors led by Assistant Prosecutor Aristotle Reyes "found probable cause for “importation of dangerous drugs” under Section 4 of Republic Act No. 9165 otherwise known as The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002."

READ: DOJ wraps up probe on P6.4B smuggled shabu case

"The [p]anel determined that the combination of the individual participation of each of the respondents, either as shipper, consolidator, facilitator, broker, financier, consignee, or warehouse lessee – reveals a pattern of over acts indicative of conspiracy to import into the country the dangerous drugs," the DOJ also said.

The DOJ said that charges against Faeldon and several other officials of the Bureau of Customs were dropped due to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency's failure "to state with clarity the acts or omission supposedly committed by the above-named BOC respondents that would constitute violation of the offense charged."

READ: DOJ summons Faeldon over P6.4-B smuggled shabu

A copy of the resolution, however, has yet to released to the members of the media.

Charges against the following members of the NBI-Anti Organized Transnational Crime Division were also dismissed by the DOJ.

• Atty. Dennis Siyhian
• Atty. Marie Christine Nolasco
• Marfil Baso
• Joselito Guilen
• Darwin Francisco
• Edgardo Kawada

The above mentioned respondents were said to have retained custody of the 500 kilograms of shabu they seized, examined and investigated. The panel held that "under the circumstances attendant to the case, and pursuant to relevant Dangerous Drugs Board Regulations and jurisprudence," the act of the agents are justified.

Meanwhile charges against Fidel Anoche Dee, the warehouse man, and his sister Emily Anoche Dee were also dropped.

The DOJ noted however that following its earlier department order, the dismissal of complaints against Faeldon and several orders "shall be subject to automatic review by the Secretary of Justice."

The case stemmed from the raid led by the operatives of the BOC, PDEA, and the National Bureau of Investigation at a warehouse in Valenzuela City. Seized in the operation are 604 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.

The shipment was declared as kitchenware, footwear and moldings, as it slipped through the BOC.

The Office of the Ombudsman, for its part, said on November 7 that it has "created a panel to conduct a fact-finding investigation into alleged anomalies in the release of P6.4 billion worth of metamphetamine or 'shabu,' through the greenlane (sic) of Bureau of Customs."

The announcement comes days after President Rodrigo Duterte said that he will leave the investigation of allegations that his son Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and son-in-law Manases "Mans" Carpio are involved in the case to independent agencies.