PDEA: There is probable cause to indict those involved in P6.4-B shabu shipment

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Friday urged the Department of Justice to indict personalities supposedly involved in the P6.4-billion shabu shipment from China that slipped past the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in May.

Arguing that the respondents only posed denials, alibis, and “technical blemishes” to refute the allegations, the agency insisted that probable cause was established against the suspects.

“It need not be based on clear and convincing evidence of guilt, not on evidence establishing guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and definitely not on evidence establishing absolute certainty of guilt,” according to PDEA’s reply affidavit.

Criminal intent on the part of the respondents need not be shown or proven as violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act) and “is more than sufficient to warrant the finding of probable cause against respondents and their conviction.”

“It cannot be gainsaid that Republic Act 9165, as amended, was violated when the dangerous drugs subject of this present controversy, either through corrupt will or out of sheer incompetence, slipped past through the BOC and was brought into Philippine soil. Such fact alone establishes that Section 4 of Republic Act 9165 was violated and importation was consummated,” the reply affidavit read.

Apart from conspiracy to import illegal drugs and coddling drug traffickers, the PDEA also slapped the respondents with complaints of graft, obstruction of justice, and negligence and tolerance—penalized under Article 208 of the Revised Penal Code.

Among those named in the charge sheet were former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, several former and current BOC officials and employees, businessman and Hongfei Logistics Inc. warehouse owner Chen Ju Long—alias Richard Tan and Richard Chen—Kenneth Dong, Manny Li, Customs fixer Mark Taguba, and some employees of the National Bureau of Investigation.

The respondents will submit their reply to PDEA’s allegations on November 8.

The contraband was discovered on May 26 when the BOC and the NBI raided Chen's warehouse in Valenzuela City based on a tip from Chinese authorities.

The bust compelled the Senate and the House of Representatives to conduct separate inquiries into the controversy, which prompted Faeldon to resign amid allegations he pocketed grease money while in office. — VDS, GMA News