The Supreme Court (SC) has denied for lack of merit the petition filed by Chinese businessman Chen Julong, alias Richard Tan or Richard Chen, who sought the dismissal of the charges of importation of P6.4 billion worth of dangerous drugs in 2017.

In a decision that affirmed the rulings of both the regional trial court (RTC) and the Court of Appeals (CA), the SC said that Chen failed to comply with the requirement of filing a motion for reconsideration first before the trial court before elevating the case to the appellate court.

The SC ruled: “The Court finds no compelling reason to allow a deviation from the general rule. As correctly found by the CA, Chen Julong failed to substantiate his claim. On this ground alone, the present petition should be denied.”

In a decision written by Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, the SC affirmed the August 2018 decision and January 2019 resolution of the CA which upheld the order issued by the Manila RTC in February 2018.

Both courts denied Chen’s motion to dismiss the illegal drugs charges and to set aside the warrant of arrest issued against him.

In his SC petition, Chen claimed that the second case filed against him before the Manila RTC was without authority as it was the same case that was approved by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Task Force in its joint resolution issued on Nov. 16, 2017.

He also accused the DOJ of forum shopping for refiling the criminal case before the Manila RTC after the Valenzuela City RTC, where the case was first filed, dismissed the charges for lack of jurisdiction.

The SC said that a review of the second case filed before the Manila RTC was signed by the same panel of DOJ prosecutors who signed the task force’s joint resolution dated Nov. 16, 2017.

“Since the second information filed with the RTC-Manila bore the signatures of the above-named prosecutors and the approval of the Acting Prosecutor General, there is no question that the information was, on its face, filed by officers who had ample authority to initial criminal case against Chen Julong,” the SC said.

It pointed out that the act of filing the second case before the Manila RTC “does not amount to forum shopping.”

“While there may be truth to the idea that the prosecution only filed the second information with the RTC-Manila because the RTC-Valenzuela City dismissed the first information for lack of jurisdiction, this reasoning will not cause the dismissal of the second information,” the SC stressed.

“It only shows that the prosecution heeded the orders of the RTC-Valenzuela City to file the criminal charges in the appropriate venue,” it added.

Case records showed that Chen was the general manager of the Hongfei Logistic Group of Companies which was engaged in the business of international sea and air freight forwarding.

Based on information received, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC) raided the warehouse of an alleged drugs syndicate operating in Manila.

The law enforcers found five wooden crates with five large metal cylinders which contained a total of 602.2 kilograms of shabu.

The incident resulted in the arrest of several other individuals including customs “fixer” Mark Ruben Taguba II. Criminal charges were filed against them before the Manila RTC

In a decision handed down by Judge Alma Crispina B. Collado-Lacorte on Sept. 12, 2024, convicted were Taguba, Eirene Mae Tatad, Fidel Anoche Dee, and Dong Yi Shen, alias "Kenneth Dong."

They were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating Republic Act (RA) 10863, the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), particularly, for unlawful importation or exportation under Section 1401 in relation to Section 118(g); and misdeclaration, misclassification, undervaluation in goods declaration under Section 1400 in relation to Section 1401; and Section 1401 in relation to Section 118(g).

Each of them was sentenced to reclusion perpetua (prison term ranging from 20 to 40 years) for each count and ordered to pay P50 million for each count.

In her decision, Judge Lacorte noted that the other accused in the case remain at large and have yet to be arraigned. They were identified as Teejay A. Marcellana, Chen Julong, Chen I Min, Jhu Ming Jyun, and Li Guang Fend who is also known as "Manny Li."