Special teams to monitor drug cases filed in court

In the aftermath of the controversial granting of bail to five Chinese chemists behind the operation of a makeshift shabu laboratory in Pasig City, the Narcotics Group (NarcGroup) created yesterday a "special team" tasked to monitor all drug cases it filed in various courts of the country.

NarcGroup chief Director Efren Fernandez said the main purpose for the creation of the "special team" is to ensure that all their moves in drug cases filed in court are properly coordinated with other government agencies such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

"We realized our lapses in the case of the five Chinese chemists, so we are now plugging the loopholes and coordination with the DOJ and the BI is one of them," said Fernandez in an interview.

He said the special team will be headed by Chief Inspector Eduardo Villena, a lawyer and legal officer of the NarcGroup and concurrent head of its financial investigating unit.

Fernandez created the "special team" a day after Justice Secretary Hernando Perez sacked Pasig City Assistant City Prosecutor Conrado Tolentino for allegedly not lifting a finger to block the granting of bail by Judge Rodrigo Lorenzo, of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 266 to the five suspects.

Tapped by Perez to replace Tolentino was DOJ prosecutor Pablo Formaran III.

According to Fernandez, the special team headed by Villena will be armed with lessons NarcGroup learned on the case of suspects Chua Chuy Li, 37; Xingfu Wang, 31; Joey Lu Cruz, 34; Huang Hong Wei, 34 and Tomas Lu.

The five suspects were arrested during a raid by elements of the Regional Intelligence and Special Operations Office (GRISOO) at a makeshift shabu laboratory in Capitol 8 Subdivision, Pasig City last Nov. 6. They yielded six kilos of shabu and several drums of chemicals used in the manufacture of illegal drugs.

The five Chinese chemists, who belong to the Fujian drug syndicate, admitted their role in the operations of the shabu lab but Judge Lorenzo granted them bail due to mere "technicalities."

The five suspects were rearrested Thursday by combined immigration and NarcGroup agents inside Lorenzo’s sala for their being undocumented aliens.

Caught inside a shabu lab, Fernandez said additional "undesirable aliens" charges will be filed against the suspects today to prolong their stay at the BI jail in Intramuros, Manila.

Fernandez said Villena’s team are closely monitoring Fujian drug syndicate head chemist Cai Ah Huai, alias Wah Yah and the shabu lab raid in San Juan.

Cai was arrested along with another Chinese national in Pasay City early this year. They yielded two kilos of shabu and are presently detained at the Pasay City jail.

According to Fernandez, they will file a motion for the urgent transfer of Cai to the NarcGroup jail to prevent him from "escaping."

Earlier, Fernandez revealed that Chinese drug syndicates are openly operating in the country because of their strong belief that they can bribe their way out.

Fernandez said the modus operandi of the Chinese drug lords is to bribe their arresting officers. Once they fail, they continue offering bribe money to the courts and jail authorities. But with their close coordination with DOJ and BI officials, Fernandez expressed confidence that the Chinese drug lords’ modus operandi of bribing government officials will now be a thing of the past.