PDEA agents hit DOJ for letting ‘big fish’ go

MANILA, Philippines - Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) behind the arrest of alleged drug trafficker Mark Sy Tan questioned yesterday the dismissal of charges against him at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

PDEA agent-on-case Jonathan Morales said they were surprised by the dismissal of charges of conspiracy to sell illegal drugs against Tan, whom they described as a “big fish” in the illegal drug trade, when they presented all the necessary evidence – including money trail records – in the preliminary investigation (PI).

“It seems the DOJ has acted like a trial court judge in dismissing the case despite the strong evidence we presented during the PI,” he told The STAR.

Morales, a senior agent of the anti-narcotics agency, could not help but compare Tan’s case to those he previously handled.

“Why is it that when we catch poor suspects, the DOJ immediately files the case in court, but when those involved are millionaires like Mark Tan it’s so hard for the case to get through DOJ? Do you still consider that justice?” he asked.

Morales said the loss is not just PDEA’s, “it’s the people’s loss. Pity our youth who fall prey to this menace.”

Reversal

The PDEA agent, who led the team that busted the big-time drug syndicate operating in Binondo, Manila, aired his views on the DOJ resolutions.

He said that the DOJ, in a resolution in April last year, approved the charges against Tan. In the new resolution, released last week after a reinvestigation, the DOJ reversed itself and dismissed the drug charges despite recommendation of probable cause by investigating fiscals.

“Mark Tan is a big fish, and now he suddenly becomes a victim of drug syndicate. How was that possible? We believe someone earned from this,” he alleged.

The STAR earlier reported that the DOJ has dismissed the charges against Tan and dropped the case against him before the Quezon City regional trial court.

Tan was arrested in July 2012 after Clarence Chen Go, who was caught selling a kilo of shabu for P3.6 million early last year, pointed to Tan as the Binondo syndicate’s alleged leader.

Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera and Prosecution Attorney Anna Noreen Devanadera, who conducted the PI, found the PDEA evidence, which included bank records, sufficient to indict Tan in court.

But upon automatic review of the PI resolution, the office of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, through Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, reversed the findings and dismissed the case.

The DOJ accepted Tan’s alibi that he thought the P360,000 cash deposit to his bank account came from a client in his money transfer business and not from sales by the syndicate, as alleged by PDEA.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council had frozen Tan’s bank accounts, where transactions of over P132 million were supposedly recorded from 2005 up to last year, but only P17.7 million had been found.

Tan had earlier accused PDEA agents and officials of allegedly extorting money from him during his arrest. A separate preliminary investigation on this case is still pending in the DOJ.

Replaced

Meanwhile, The STAR learned that the DOJ has replaced Navera and Devanadera in the drug case already pending in the Quezon City regional trial court against Tan, Go and two other accused, Changxin Wang and Matthew Tan.

Morales said they hope the Palace and Congress would look into the case.

PDEA chief Arturo Cacdac Jr., however, has been silent about the case.