Lee, who was arrested upon his arrival at the airport from Hong Kong last Sunday, was facing charges of violating the Tariffs and Customs Code and bribery for offering members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) P300,000 to let him go.
Officials of the CIDG expressed dismay over the decision and asked Quezon City Chief Prosecutor Claro Arellano to reconsider the decision.
Casaclang said she found no valid case for arrest due to insufficient evidence and ordered Lee’s release for further investigation.
Superintendent Benjamin de los Santos, chief of the CIDG-Criminal Investigation and Detection Division that arrested Lee, maintained the suspect was caught "flagrante delicto for corruption of public officers" by giving P300,000 cash to the arresting officers.
He pointed out that during inquest proceedings, prosecutors demanded details of a prior case of smuggling for which the respondent had earlier been arrested then required the production of documents showing authority to enforce Customs law.
Despite clarification that the bribery case was separate from smuggling, police complied and submitted the documents demanded by the prosecutor.
"But lo and behold, the inquest prosecutor ruled that there was no valid arrest," he said. "The case for bribery is entirely independent of the earlier smuggling case for which the respondent was earlier arrested."
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has yet to rule on the smuggling charges against Lee, who allegedly facilitated the shipment of 62 container vans of plastic resin.
Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said they would focus on the alleged involvement of some Customs personnel in the technical smuggling of three container vans of plastic resin believed to be owned by Lee.
"We will check the importation documents of the shipment. We already requested police to turn over to us the seized container vans so we can inspect them," Morales said.
CIDG officials said Lee has been using dummy corporations to avoid paying necessary taxes.
The BOC chief said he would not hesitate to file charges against Customs officers who are found to be involved in the smuggling attempt.
"Di natin papa-arbor itong si Samuel Lee," stressed Morales. "If we have enough evidence, we will immediately file criminal charges for violation of Tariff and Customs Code."
Lee was earlier identified by senators as one of the "untouchable" big-time smugglers enjoying protection of some Customs officials. He has been under police surveillance in the past two months for supposedly smuggled plastic resin into the country.
"As far as City Hall is concerned, no such company exists in Valenzuela City. But we are checking further. This needs our prompt action. If the authorities can given us the full address, we can move in and check for its right to legally operate and be subject to our ongoing tax mapping," Gatchalian said.
Records from the Bureau of Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) showed three firms using the name "Consumer," but none showed up matching the firm cited in the news accounts on the smuggling case.
There was a Consumer Buying Corp., apparently a trading firm with an office, but no warehouse. Another one engaged in retailing and repacking of consumer goods was registered as Consumer Commodities International. A third, the Consumer Engineering Construction was listed as a contractor and, as per records, last paid its taxes in 2003.
The firm, City Hall sources said, could have closed shop or, if still operating, is a delinquent taxpayer and has no right to operate.
Reports the other day said that instead of delivering the imported raw materials to the Customs bonded warehouse, the goods were delivered directly to the end user for processing into finished products and distributed and sold in the local market.
The raw materials were reportedly smuggled out of the BOC last March 4 without paying the right taxes and were seized by police.
The goods, reportedly part of a P100-million shipment, were supposed to be delivered to Customs Warehouse 1687, but was diverted to CPPC in Valenzuela City. – With Edu Punay, Jerry Botial