By Jeffrey Damicog
Former Bureau of Customs (BOC) intelligence officer Jimmy Guban will be placed under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) as a vital witness in the case concerning the billion-peso smuggling of illegal drugs which managed to slip through the country using magnetic lifters, said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra
(TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Guevarra said he and Sen. Richard Gordon, who is currently conducting an inquiry over the drug smuggling case as head of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, reached an agreement that Guban will remain under Senate custody.
“Sen. Gordon and I have agreed to transfer custody of a vital witness, Jimmy Guban, to the NBI upon termination of the Senate inquiry,” Guevarra told reporters.
“Mr. Guban shall also be considered for coverage under the Witness Protection Program (WPP), upon full compliance with all the requirements under the WPP law,” he said.
The Secretary said the NBI also be conducting “further investigation on the basis of the Senate committee report, and file the appropriate complaints as the evidence will warrant.”
Guevarra had already instructed the NBI in August to investigate the illegal drug shipment.
Last August 7, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) intercepted at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) P4.3-billion worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu, concealed inside two magnetic lifters.
However, four other magnetic lifters managed to get through and were found already empty of suspected shabu believed to be worth P6.8 billion.