MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation has recommended to the Department of Justice the prosecution for drug trafficking of nine people led by customs broker Mark Ruben Taguba, Cebu-based businessman Kenneth Dong (Dong Yi Shen), and Chinese trader Richard Tan (Chen Ju Long), who are being linked to the shipment of P6.4-billion worth of shabu that was able to enter the country through the Bureau of Customs’ express lane.
Also recommended for prosecution are Taiwanese nationals Chen I. Min and Jhu Ming Jyun; Chinese national Li Guang Feng also known as Manny Li; and Filipinos Fidel Anoche Dee; Teejay Marcellana; and Eirene May Tatad.
According to the NBI’s Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division, the nine individuals had allegedly committed the crime of importing dangerous drugs and violated Section 4 of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The division also accused Taguba, Dong, and Li of unauthorized practice of customs profession in violation of Section 28 of R.A. 9280 or the Customs Brokers Act of 2004.
Taguba, who was earlier granted legislative immunity from suit by the House of Representatives, alleged that Dong was the middleman of Richard Tan (Chen Ju Long), the general manager of Hong Fei Logistics, the company that transported the 604 kilos of shabu, which found its way to a warehouse in Valenzuela City.
The caretaker of the warehouse was Dee. The facility was rented by Taiwanese Jhu Ming Yun and Chen Min.
But during the continuation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s inquiry on the smuggled shabu last week, Dong washed his hands of the crime and said that while he had helped Chen facilitate the shipment of the cargo through his friend Manny Li, his only role in the processing of the shipment was to translate to English the cargo’s packing list, which was written in Chinese.
Li was Chen’s broker, who helped him facilitate the documentation of the shipment. It was Li who had asked Dong to find a Filipino broker for his supposed Chinese client. Taguba said he was the one tapped by Dong — through a friend he identified as Jun Pineda — to look for a Manila-based consignee for the shipment, which was EMT Trading.
According to Taguba, he didn’t know Chen because he thought that his client was Dong. According to Chen, he didn’t know Dong and only knew Li.
EMT was apparently just a dummy importer as Tatad, its sole proprietor, testified before the Senate that she didn’t know anything about the shipment as EMT, a first time importer, was just a consignee-for-hire.
Dong said it was Li who had sent him the packing list from Hong Fei, which prepared the original document that contained details about the package, including the five cylinders where the shabu was placed. He said that after translating the list to English, he sent the same to Taguba.
During the Senate inquiry last week, it was mentioned that Li was the translator of the list. But Dong also said that he had also translated the same list from Chinese to English after Li sent the document to him.
Also, during the hearing, senators determined that it was Li who had translated the list from Chinese to English and in the process removed the information about the cylinders containing shabu. Thus when the BOC received the cargo, there were no more cylinders written on the list.
Taguba on Wednesday testified that it was Dong who gave him the bill of lading for the shipment or the document between the shipper of the cargo and the carrier detailing the type, quantity, and destination of the goods being carried.
He said cylinders were not listed in the document but only cutting boards, footwear, kitchenware, and mould. Taguba added that the packing list sent to him by Dong didn’t also include the cylinders.
Meanwhile, Marcellana, a customs broker, was recommended to be prosecuted after Larribert Hilario, former officer-in-charge of the BOC’s Risk Management Office, claimed that he was the one who allegedly inputted the shipments last May 22, which included five metal containers containing shabu.
