Inconsistent markings on seized drugs prompts acquittal of alleged shabu seller

The Supreme Court (SC) has acquitted a man previously convicted of illegal drug sale after it emerged there were discrepancies in the marking of the shabu allegedly seized from him.

In a March 13 decision seen Tuesday, the Third Division reversed a 2015 Court of Appeals decision that upheld the conviction of one Lahmodin Ameril, alias Amor/Mhong.

Ameril was arrested at a buy-bust operation on April 17, 2006, where he allegedly sold three plastic sachets of shabu to an agent of the National Bureau of Investigation. The man denied the allegations.

The sachets that were presented as evidence during trial were marked with Ameril's initials: "LLA-1," "LLA-2" and "LLA." However, the official charge against the suspect alleged the sachets were marked "LAA," "LAA-2" and "LAA."

Despite the "inconsistencies," the Manila Regional Trial Court convicted Ameril in 2012, a ruling the appeals court upheld in 2015, prompting him to bring the case to the High Court.

In a 15-page ruling penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the SC's Third Division ruled that "the integrity of seized illegal drugs was not preserved."

"Again, it must be emphasized that the seized illegal drugs constitute the corpus delicti of the illegal sale of dangerous drugs. Its identity must be proved beyond reasonable doubt," the decision stated.

"When there is doubt on its identity, conviction cannot be sustained."

The Court also ruled that the arresting officers committed procedural lapses in handling the seized drugs. Coupled with the inconsistent markings, the presumption of regularity in their favor is "negated," it said.

"The glaring inconsistency in the markings of the seized illegal drugs should have warned the trial court and the Court of Appeals that something was amiss," the SC held.

"The totality of the evidence presented shows that the arresting officers who conducted the buy-bust operation were remiss in the performance of their official functions," it added.

Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Andres Reyes Jr., Alexander Gesmundo, and Rosmari Carandang concurred with the decision.

The SC has previously acquitted a number of drug suspects due to their arresting officers' failure to comply with the chain of custody provided under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. — RSJ, GMA News