Warehouse caretaker in P6.4-B shabu case acquitted of drug charges

Fidel Anoche Dee, the caretaker of the Valenzuela warehouse where authorities seized P6.4-billion worth of shabu in 2017, has been acquitted of drug possession charges.

In a newly promulgated decision, the Valenzuela Regional Trial Court Branch 284 cleared Dee of violation of Section 11 -- possession of dangerous drugs -- of Republic Act No. 9165, his lawyer, Kris Rimban, confirmed Friday.

Granting Dee's demurrer to evidence, the court "ruled that the accused had neither actual nor constructive possession of the shipment," the lawyer told GMA News Online in a text message.

A demurrer to evidence is a filing that assails the strength of the prosecution's evidence. It can be filed after the prosecution rests its case and may lead to the dismissal of charges even before the defendant presents their own evidence.

Rimban said Dee faces three other cases in Manila courts for alleged violations of Customs laws.

The cases stem from Customs and NBI agents' discovery of more than 600 kilograms of shabu at the Hongfei Logistics warehouse in May 2017 in a raid that led to Dee's arrest and detention.

Several other personalities face a separate drug smuggling case in Manila over the same massive shabu shipment, including Customs 'fixer' Mark Ruben Taguba II, consignee Eirene Mae Tatad, and alleged middleman Kenneth Dong.

Their co-accused, Chen Ju Long aka Richard Chen or Richard Tan; Li Guang Feng aka Manny Li; Chen I-min, Jhu Ming Jyun, Chen Rong Huan, and Teejay Marcellana, remain at large. —NB, GMA News