Defense lawyer seeks court order for return of seized car, cell phones

The lawyer of three men, who were recently cleared of drug charges, asked the court to order the prosecutor and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to release the items seized from his clients last year.

Lawyer Dominique Elnar, in his motion, said the court had already acquitted his clients from drug charges so it would be proper for PDEA to return to his clients the seized Honda CRV car, and two cell phones, a Nokia 2300 and a Nokia N70.

“With this judgment of acquittal, the Honda CRV and the two cellular phones should rightly be returned to their respective owners,” Elnar’s motion read.

Elnar is the lawyer of Castro Sabal, Taner Macañas, and Tata Akang, the three men that PDEA operatives had arrested at a mall in the reclamation area during a buy-bust last year.

The PDEA men claimed they arrested the three men, while driving out of the mall’s parking lot, and allegedly yielded 44.90 grams of shabu that was valued at P200,000. They also seized the car and the cell phones of the three.

The car was put into custody of the PDEA during the course of the trial while the cell phones were in the custody of the city prosecutor’s office. 

Elnar said that Land Transportation Office documents showed that a certain Monera Nandang is the registered owner of the confiscated Honda CRV (plate number WRF-229.

Macañas is the owner of the Nokia 2300 cell phone while Sabal’s wife, Merriam, is the owner of the Nokia N70.

The three men, however, accused the operatives of taking their belongings, including an expensive wristwatch and some groceries, which they bought for a pregnant relative who was visiting her doctor in Cebu at the time.

PDEA denied the charges but Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Fortunato de Gracia cleared the three accused early this year.  — Joeberth M. Ocao/RAE