John-John sued at DOJ

After three years, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency finally filed charges with the Department of Justice on Thursday against the alleged local contacts of a suspected international drug syndicate believed responsible for the smuggling into Cebu on March 5, 2004 of P3.6 billion worth of pseudoephedrine from China.

Prominent on the list of more than 10 people charged with illegal importation of drugs in violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Law is former Cebu vice governor John Gregory " John-John " Osmeña.

Osmeña is reportedly out of the country and could not be contacted for comment. At the time he was first implicated in 2004, Osmeña denied any involvement in the shipment.

Also charged with Osmeña were three former members of his staff at the vice governor's office - Joebert Lanas Cuesta, Rorela Villegas and Maria Rowena Roldan. A friend of the former vice governor, Dirk d' Hultz, was also charged along with Michael Cummings, Leah Banal, Malou Milagros Legaspi and several other men and women who were not identified.

All of them could not also be contacted.

Aside from illegal drug importation, the PDEA also filed charges against them for alleged delivery and transportation, chemical diversion, conspiracy and other violations of Dangerous Drugs Board regulations.

Cuesta is reportedly the president of Coastside Ventures Incorporated, the consignee of the 1,710 kilos of pseudoephedrine which arrived in Cebu on March 5, 2004 from China. Villegas and Roldan were said to be among the incorporators of the company.

Cummings allegedly represented Coastside Ventures in the import documents.

PO2 Rey Robert Villarete, members of a PDEA team that conducted a confidential mission codenamed " Coplan Latvia " tagged Osmeña as the alleged local contact of an Australia-based syndicate.

Villarete and Udtohan, in a joint-affidavit, said as early as December 4, 2003 they were already assigned to augment personnel from the Intelligence and Investigation Service of PDEA which was then on a confidential mission.

According to them, the mission was about the planned smuggling of ephedrine by Australian nationals and at the time still unidentified Filipino contacts, using the Port of Cebu as landing area.

The operation was allegedly called off temporarily after their target person, a certain Leslie Ronald Saunders, did not arrive. The operation reportedly went back on track again in January 2004 when their team leader, Police Senior Inspector Prospero Bona, returned to Cebu to conduct surveillance and identify all airstrips in the province likely to be used by a Beech aircraft to pick up the drugs once it arrived from China.

Villarete and Udtohan said surveillance done on Coastside Ventures on Hernan Cortes Street in Mandaue City showed that Cuesta was the president of the company.

According to them, they received information that George Michael Kessel and a certain Soria will be arriving to meet with local Filipino contacts in anticipation of the arrival of the ephedrine shipment from China.

On February 18, 2004, Kessel and Soria arrived on board Philippine Airlines Flight 863 and were tailed as they checked into a hotel. Kessel and Soria later moved to another hotel the following day and there allegedly had a meeting with Osmeña in the morning of February 20.

The meeting among Osmea, Kessel, Soria and an unidentified Caucasian male allegedly lasted for two hours. In the afternoon of the same day, Osmeña allegedly fetched Kessel and Soria in his black Ford Expedition and headed toward the Mactan Airport for their flight back to Manila.

On March 5, 2004 the shipment arrived at the Cebu International Port and was immediately held by the Bureau of Customs thru Special Agent Danielo Gonzales, who was then the team leader of a task force on dangerous drugs and controlled chemicals.

Udtohan and Villarete said they guarded the seized shipment until it was finally turned over to the PDEA.

Former PDEA regional director Gaudencio Pagaling, in his affidavit, said he received a phone call from the former vice governor immediately after the shipment was held by Customs asking him for PDEA clearance for the shipment.

Pagaling said Chief Inspector Leslie Maala, who was then officer in charge of the PDEA laboratory service, also received a call from Osmeña allegedly asking to have the results of her chemical analysis on the seized chemicals delayed.

Maala reportedly could not withstand the pressure and opted to resign and immediately left for abroad.

PDEA legal officer Lydia Bundac, who was recently assigned to pursue the investigation, said the filing of the case was delayed because their supposed star witness could no longer be found.

It was the House committee on dangerous drugs which pressured the PDEA to pursue the investigation and file charges against the local contacts of the syndicate after a court in Australia convicted Kessel and Saunders. The two were allegedly the financers of the seized drug shipment.