A criminal complaint for alleged importation of 602 kilos of shabu worth P6.4 billion in 2017 was filed on Wednesday, July 31, against Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Z. Duterte, Vice President Zara Duterte's husband Atty. Manases "Mans" Carpio, and eight other persons before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Also charged in the complaint filed by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV were Davao City 1st District Councilor Nilo “Small” Abellera Jr., former Bureau of Customs (BOC) commissioner Nicanor E. Faeldon, former BOC director of Investigation and Intelligence Service Neil Anthony Estrella, retired Army Col. Allen “Big Brother” Capuyan, businessman Pompey “Jack” Perez, Taiwanese businessman Charlie Tan, and former BOC personnel Teofilo Joseph “Jojo” Bacud, and Nanie “Tita Nanie” Cabatu Coronacion.
“Needless to state, this is an opportunity for the Department of Justice to seriously look into, investigate and prosecute these ‘big fishes’ who have made it possible to import gargantuan amounts of illegal drugs but who always evaded prosecution,” Trillanes said in his complaint.
Those named respondents were accused of importation of dangerous drugs in violation of Section 26(a) of Republic Act (RA) 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Paolo, Manases, Abellera, Capuyan, Estrella, Bacud, and Faeldon are also accused of violating RA 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The complaint arose from the reported smuggling of 602 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu, worth P6.4 billion that was discovered in May 26, 2017 in the warehouse of Hong Fei Logistics in Valenzuela City owned by Richard Tan.
Listed as containing cutting boards, kitchenware, footwear and mould, the van that contained the shabu from China arrived at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) on May 17, 2017 and, with the facilitation of customs broker Mark Ruben Taguba II, passed through the BOC’s “Green Lane” where imported goods were not required to undergo physical inspection and document verification, the complaint alleged..
Trillanes said the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings conducted on the shabu shipment has “led to the filing of Complaints before the Honorable Department of Justice and eventually the Regional Trial Court of Manila, where a case for violation of Section 4 of RA No. 9165 in relation to Section 26(a) is pending against Chen Ju Long (Richard Tan) and Mark Ruben Taguba II, among others.”
“However, the Respondents named above, particularly Respondents Paolo ‘Pulong’ Duterte and Manases ‘Mans’ Carpio, who are actually key malefactors and principal by direct and/or indispensable cooperation in this very brazen smuggling of the second largest haul of illegal drugs in the country’s history…were not included among those who were charged,” Trillanes alleged in his complaint.
During the hearings, Trillanes said “the Senate unraveled that at the center of the conspiracy to commit this grant outlawry was a Filipino customs broker and trucking proprietor named Mark Ruben Taguba II.”
Trillanes alleged: “However, it bears stressing that Taguba could not have done this alone. This conspiracy to import the subject shipment from China to the Philippines necessitated the crucial act of the ‘persons from the inside’ - the corrupt customs officials, and more critically, the very powerful ‘players’ who used their influence to consummate this unlawful crime of importation of billions of pesos worth of dangerous drugs to the country."
Trilllanes claimed that “Taguba testified that his shipments breezed through the Bureau of Customs (BOC) without much an inspection in the ‘Green Lane’ because of the influence and protection of the Davao Group.”
“From the foregoing testimony and the exchange of text messages, the role of each actor (belonging to the Davao Group) in the conspiracy to import subject P6.4 billion worth of drugs is clear enough,” he stressed.
At the same time, Trillanes in his complaint alleged that Taguba identified the members of the “Davao Group” during the Senate hearings as Paolo, Manases, Coronacion, Perez, and Abellera.
Trillanes alleged that, based on the testimony of Taguba, “the members of the Davao Group, particularly Respondent Pulong Duterte and Mans Carpio needed only to call BOC collector Jet Maronilla of the Bureau of Customs to facilitate clearance of their special container without the danger of being flagged or alerted, in exchange for P5 million as ‘enrolment fee’ and an additional P1 million advance weekly remittance.”
He claimed Abellera “acted as the ‘bagman’ or middleman of Respondent Pulong Duterte in collecting remittances (enrolment fee) from Respondent Nanie ‘Tita Nanie’ Cabatu Coronacion or Taguba.”
He also alleged that Capuyan “allowed himself to be induced to furnish Taguba with the tariff codes to direct the smuggled drugs to the ‘Green Lane’ thereby avoiding customs inspection.”
On the part of Faeldon, Trillanes claimed that the former BOC commissioner "influenced Respondent Estrella to break the chain of custody of the seized shipment; and influenced Respondent Joj Bacud to facilitate Taguba’s previous shipments in exchange of a fee of P5,000 ‘tara’ every week per released container, and the entry of the subject contraband.”
Under Section 4 of RA 9165, the penalty of life imprisonment (20 to 40 years) and a fine ranging from P500,000 to P10 million will be imposed on violators.
Section 26 (a) of the law imposes the same penalty under Section 4 for "importation of any dangerous drugs and/or controlled precursor and essential chemical."
None of the respondents in the complaint could be contacted as of posting.