Raps filed vs suspects in P11-billion smuggled shabu

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) will file charges today against persons allegedly involved in the P11 billion worth of shabu believed to have been smuggled into the country last August.

PDEA chief Aaron Aquino said they would file the case before the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Manila at around 10 a.m.

“We will have a press conference when we file the case against those involved in the drug shipment,” he said.

Aquino along with other PDEA officials finalized details of the complaint during a meeting yesterday afternoon.

He did not not say if former PDEA deputy director general for administration Ismael Fajardo, who was linked to the controversy, is included in the list of respondents.

Aquino also refused to give an estimate on the number of personalities who will be charged.

He said the PDEA complaint is different from the one, which would be filed by the National Bureau of Investigation in the coming days.

Fajardo has gone missing after he was implicated by former Bureau of Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban in the drug shipment.

Guban claimed that Fajardo had knowledge of the shabu shipment, but he did not give information to other PDEA officials.

According to Aquino, Fajardo resigned from his post on Nov. 30.

“We tried to ask his son and wife but they told the PDEA they don’t know where Fajardo is,” Aquino said.

The drugs placed in magnetic lifters were found in a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite on Aug. 10.

More drug arrests

Meanwhile, 10 drug suspects, including two Koreans, were arrested in Manila in the past two days.

Yunsung Le and Hyun Kisuk were nabbed along with Shyrel Tumbali in a sting in Malate.

The other suspects were rounded up in anti-narcotics operations in Tondo.

In Quezon City, 24 persons were apprehended in separate anti-narcotics operations.

Chief Superintendent Joselito Esquivel Jr., director of the Quezon City police, said the suspects were collared in Barangays Sto. Niño, Veterans Village and Holy Spirit.

Four more drug suspects were arrested in Pasig and Marikina.

They were Nestor Moreno, 59, Mariel Buebo, 24; Louie Jean Madelo, 31, and  Angelica Adora, 22. – Emmanuel Tupas