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Manila Bulletin devider devider DOJ oks indictment of 8 persons over drugs smuggled thru magnetic lifters

DOJ oks indictment of 8 persons over drugs smuggled thru magnetic lifters

Published Apr 17, 2019 09:25 pm
By Jeffrey Damicog The Department of Justice (DOJ) has approved the filing of charges against eight persons including former officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for their involvement in the 2018 smuggling of billions of pesos of illegal drugs using magnetic lifters. In a 45-page resolution, the DOJ ruled that it has found probable cause and recommended that “information for violation of Section 4 in relation to Section 28 and 31, RA 9165 (Republic Act No. 9165, The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) be filed against these respondents…” The resolution dated April 8 was signed by the four-person panel of prosecutors chaired by Assistant State Prosecutor Mary Jane Sytat with the approval of Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva and Acting Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon. These respondents are former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban; former PDEA Deputy Director for Administration Ismael Fajardo; dismissed Police Sr. Supt. Eduardo Acierto; Chan Yee Wah; Zhou Quan, also known as Zhang Quan; Emily Luquingan; and consignees Vedasto Cabral Baraquel Jr. and his wife Maria Lagrimas Catipan of Vecaba Trading. On the other hand, the DOJ endorsed the filing of a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) against former Bureau of Customs (BOC) and current Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director General Isidro Lapena and several others for violating the Section 3(e) of the RA 3019 (The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and for criminal negligence and tolerance under Article 208 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC). These persons named as Lapena’s co-respondents in the graft complaint are Fajardo, Acierto, Guban, Gregorio Necessario, Dolores Domingo, Zsae Carrie De Guzman, Benjamin Cajucom, Manuel Martinez, Joseph Dimayuga and John Mar Morales. While, those named as co-respondent for negligence and tolerance are De Guzman, Morales, Cajucom, and Vener Baquiran. The DOJ released the resolution after conducting a preliminary investigation of the complaints filed by the PDEA and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). The case concerns the two magnetic lifters found with illegal drugs at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) as well as the four magnetic lifters at a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez (GMA), Cavite which were believed to have also contained narcotics. The NBI named in its complaint about 40 persons including the “core conspirators”, namely, Guban, Fajardo, and Acierto. While the PDEA filed two complaints and named as respondents almost 50 persons. However, the DOJ dismissed the other complaints filed by the PDEA and NBI. The DOJ pointed out “a shotgun approach in filing complaints must at all times be avoided.” It added the complaint “must state all the names of the respondents, the designation of the offense, and more importantly, the acts of omissions of each and every respondent complained of as constituting the offense, backed by admissible evidence, not on mere speculation or conjecture.” “Only in this way can a truly functional and effective criminal justice system can be achieved,” stated the DOJ resolution.
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