Customs official probing 2 smuggling cases before he was murdered

The murder of Bureau of Customs (BOC) Deputy Commissioner Arturo M. Lachica last week could be linked to two smuggling cases he was handling, an initial investigation into the matter revealed.

"We are investigating two cases of highly taxable commodities and he is the head of that investigation," Police Senior Superintendent Napoleon Coronel, Manila Police District Director, said in a report on GMA News "24 Oras" on Monday.

According to Coronel, Lachica was investigating two cases of illegal importation of metals into the Philippines prior to his death.

Lachica was shot by an unidentified assailant on Thursday while his car was waiting for the green light at the corner of España Boulevard and Kundiman street. 

"Nung naka-stop kami sa Kundiman — Kundiman-España, may biglang bumaril na lang po sa harap ni sir Art," Lachica's driver-bodyguard Romulo de Lima said. Ramon Hernandez, another bodyguard who was seated in the back, was unscathed.

Customs Commissioner Nicanor E. Faeldon, who appointed Lachica in July, has already ordered an investigation into the killing.

"I am optimistic that the truth, as well as the perpetrators of this heinous crime, will soon be exposed," he said.

The Department of Finance (DOF) on Sunday also announced a P1-million reward for any information that could lead to the arrest of Lachica's murder. —Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/JST, GMA News