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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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February 3, 2018
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Consignee of P6.4-B shabu caught in Iloilo
ILOILO – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested here one of the suspects in the P6.4-billion shabu shipment discovered in Metro Manila.
Eirene Mae Tatad of EMT Trading, the suspected consignee of shabu, was immediately whisked yesterday morning to the NBI headquarters in the nation’s capital.
Tatad was the second individual arrested by the NBI in connection with the billion-peso shabu shipment. The first was customs broker Mark Taguba.
According to Ross Jonathan Galicia, chief of NBI’s Task Force Against Illegal Drugs, Tatad’s brother-in-law convinced her to turn herself in to government agents. The bureau dispatched agents to Iloilo as early as 4 a.m. yesterday.
Tatad’s brother-in-law also accompanied the NBI in fetching her in Iloilo where she claimed to be on vacation, said Galicia.
The suspect did not resist arrest.
NBI Region 6 director Max Salvador said from San Dionisio town, Tatad was taken straight to the Iloilo Airport.
San Dionisio is a coastal municipality some 106 kilometers north of Iloilo City.
Tatad denied she was hiding. She only learned about her arrest warrant on Thursday, she stressed when presented to the press in Metro Manila yesterday.
The Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 46 which is hearing the drug importation case filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Taguba, Tatad and others issued the arrest warrant.
The case stemmed from the discovery of the P6-4-billion shabu shipment at the Hong Fei Logistics warehouse in Valenzuela City last May 26, 2017 based on a tip from the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of the China Customs.
The shabu shipment managed to enter the country through the Bureau of Customs (BOC) after being declared as kitchenware, footwear and moldings.
Tatad said she went to Iloilo to “relieve herself of stress” following the dismissal of the DOJ complaint against her and others at the Valenzuela City RTC, Branch 171 for lack of jurisdiction.
The case was originally filed before the Valenzuela RTC but was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction; the DOJ then refiled it at the Manila RTC, Branch 46.
NBI director Dante Gierran said teams of operatives have been formed to locate the remaining six accused in the shabu importation case: Li Guang Feng alias Manny Li, Dong Yi Shen Xi alias Kenneth Dong, Teejay Marcellana, Chen I-Min, Jhu Ming Jhyun, and Chen Rong Juan.
‘CONSIGNEE FOR HIRE’
Tatad’s camp maintained she was innocent, adding she was only used as dummy by Taguba.
The DOJ found probable cause to indict her for importation of dangerous drugs under Section 4, in relation to Section 26 (a) of Republic Act (RA) 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).
The DOJ said Tatad admitted she had a “consignee for hire” arrangement with Taguba but she denied having knowledge as to any transaction between Taguba and his clients.
“Further, though EMT Trading appears in the records as consignee/importer, she reasons out that such fact does not in any way prove that she conspired to import illegal drugs. Lastly, she claims that it was not substantially proven that the recovered shabu came from the container consigned to EMT,” the DOJ said in its resolution on the complaints in connection with the shabu shipment.
NBI’s Gierran said yesterday Tatad would be brought to Manila RTC, Branch 46 which would then issue a commitment order on where she would be detained.
No bail was recommended for Tatad’s temporary liberty. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
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