MANILA – The Department of Justice approved the filing of cases against Bureau of Customs broker Mark Taguba and eight others in connection with the P6.4-billion worth of shabu smuggled into the country last year.
A DOJ resolution released on Monday stated that the respondents were liable for misdeclaration, misclassification and undervaluation of goods declaration; unlawful importation or exportation; and facilitating the transport of articles imported in violation of the law.
Aside from Taguba, other respondents were Eirene Mae A. Tatad, owner of EMT Trading; Teejay A. Marcellana; Chen Ju Long (also known as Richard Tan); Li Guang Feng (also known as Manny Li), Dong Yi Shen (also known as Kenneth Dong); Fidel Anoche Dee; Chen I. Min; and Jhu Ming Jyun.
“We find no merit on respondents’ claim that the importation documents they signed, processed and filed at the BOC show only an importation of ‘cutting boards, footwear, kitchenware, and moulds. The dangerous drugs were concealed with legally imported merchandise on the chance that the former could escape detection,” the DOJ said.
“Respondents’ defense that they were not aware that the shipment they received contained dangerous drugs deserves scant consideration. What matters is that they committed act/s which has a vital connection to the chain of conspiracy, that without such act, the unlawful importation would be unsuccessful,” the agency added.
The filing of the criminal case against the respondents under Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, would not render the case moot and academic considering that it is a different offense, the department added.
“When the prohibited articles entered the Philippine territory and respondents thereafter received and facilitated the transportation of said articles to its final destination knowing the same to have been imported contrary to law, herein respondents undoubtedly committed another act of unlawful importation,” said the DOJ.
The case stemmed from the Customs’ discovery of the shabu shipment at the Hong Fei Logistics warehouse in Valenzuela City on May 26 last year based on a tip from the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of the China Customs.
The 604-kilogram shabu shipment was one of the biggest hauls of smuggled drugs in the country and a subject of a lengthy congressional probe that also led to the resignation of then Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon./PN
