NBI arrests consignee of P6.4-B shabu shipment in Iloilo

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested on Friday the consignee of the P6.4-billion shabu shipment that was smuggled through the Manila port in May last year.

NBI public information chief Nicanor Suarez said Eirene Mae Tatad, owner of EMT Trading, was apprehended in Iloilo on the strength of the arrest warrant issued by the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46, which is hearing the drug importation case filed by the Department of Justice.

At a press conference, NBI Task Force Against Illegal Drugs chief Ross Jonathan Galicia said Tatad's brother-in-law convinced her to turn herself in to government agents.

He said Tatad's brother-in-law also accompanied the NBI in fetching her in Iloilo where she was on vacation.

"We called her up and requested if she was willing to give up. Through the intercession of her brother-in-law, he conceded that it's much better for her to face the music," Galicia said.

Tatad denied that she went on hiding, saying she only learned about the arrest warrant on Thursday.  She said she went to Iloilo to relieve herself of stress following the dismissal of the case at the Valenzuela City Regional Trial Court Branch 171 for lack of jurisdiction.

The case was refiled with the Manila court last week.

Tatad's camp also maintained that she is innocent of the allegations, adding she was only used as dummy by Customs fixer and co-accused Mark Ruben Taguba II.

Earlier, the DOJ said Tatad admitted she had a "consignee for hire" arrangement with Taguba, but she denied having knowledge as to any transaction between Taguba and his clients.

"Further, though EMT Trading appears in the records as consignee/importer, she reasons out that such fact does not in any way prove that she conspired to import illegal drugs. Lastly, she claims that it was not substantially proven that the recovered shabu came from the container consigned to EMT," the DOJ said in its resolution on the complaints in connection with the shabu shipment.

Tatad will be brought to the court, which will issue the commitment order on where she will be detained.

Tatad will be presented to the media at the NBI headquarters in Manila within the day, Suarez said.

The NBI earlier arrested Taguba, who asked the court to keep him detained at the NBI. His motion was denied by Manila RTC Branch 46 Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa for lack of merit.

Authorities are still looking for six others supposedly involved in the shabu importation, namely, Dong Yi Shen Xi, also known as Kenneth Dong; Li Guang Feng, also known as Manny Li; customs broker Teejay Marcellana; Taiwanese nationals Chen I-Min and Jhu Ming Jyun; and 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 a resolution on his motion to dismiss the case against him. —KG/VDS/KBK, GMA News