Manila court orders arrest of Taguba, 7 others over P6.4-B shabu shipment

A Manila court has ordered the arrest of alleged Customs fixer Mark Ruben Taguba II and seven others charged for the importation of the P6.4-billion shabu shipment that slipped past port inspections in May last year.

Apart from Taguba, also ordered arrested on Tuesday by Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa of Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 were Dong Yi Shen Xi, also known as Kenneth Dong; Li Guang Feng, also known as Manny Li;Eirene Mae Tatad, owner of EMT Trading, consignee of the drug shipment; customs broker Teejay Marcellana; Taiwanese nationals Chen I-Min and Jhu Ming Jyun; Hongfei's Chen Rong Huan.

The court has yet to issue an arrest warrant for Philippine Hongfei Logistics Group of Companies Inc. chairman Chen Ju Long, also known as Richard Tan or Richard Chen pending resolution on his motion to dismiss the case against him.

No bail was fixed for the rest of the accused.

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation served the arrest warrant to Taguba at the Senate, where he had been under protective custody in relation to his testimony in the chamber's inquiry on the shabu shipment and alleged corruption at the Bureau of Customs.

Mark Taguba “broker” ng smuggled 604kg ng shabu hawak na ng NBI, sinilbihan ng warrant of arrest mula Manila RTC habang nasa Senado @dzbb

— Nimfa R. Ravelo (@nimfaravelo) January 31, 2018

This case was originally filed with the Valenzuela City Regional Trial Court but Judge Maria Nena Santos of RTC Branch 171 ruled it had no jurisdiction to try and resolve the case because the importation took place in Manila.

Taguba and eight others are the same individuals facing a case for transportation and delivery of dangerous drugs under Section 5 of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) filed by the Department of Justice with the Valenzuela RTC.

The shipment arrived in the country on May 16 last year and was subsequently released from the Manila International Container Port on May 23.

Following a tip from its Chinese counterpart, the BOC, with the help of the National Bureau of Investigation, seized on May 26the 602.2 kilograms of shabu from Chen’s Hongfei Logistics warehouse in Valenzuela City.

The DOJ is still evaluating whether smuggling charges should be filed in court against most of the accused in the importation and transportation and delivery cases. —NB, GMA News