DOJ summons 5 policemen for pocketing P250-M shabu

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) has summoned five police officers accused of pocketing shabu with a street value of P250 million and other personal items seized from three Chinese drug suspects in a raid in Pampanga last year.

The DOJ ordered Chief Inspector Bienvenido Reydado, Senior Inspector Rommel dela Vega, Senior Police Officer 1 Rommel Raquipiso, Chief Inspector Arnulfo Ibanez and Police Officer 2 Federico Casuple to appear before the preliminary investigation on April 21.

They were directed by the investigating panel headed by Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera to submit their answers to the charges of violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

In a complaint, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police accused the five officers of conspiracy when they allegedly appropriated for themselves the confiscated illegal drugs.

The CIDG also included in the charge sheet eight unidentified police officers, said to be members of Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF).

The complaint alleged the police team seized 50 kilos of shabu and arrested three Chinese nationals in a raid in August last year but did not report the operation.

The raid was reportedly led by Reydado, who was already relieved from his post as chief of CIDG-Pampanga.

It was found that the police officers reportedly misled other personnel in their office that the seized drugs were brought to PNP Crime Laboratory in Camp Crame by alleged operatives of the AIDSOTF.

“But the Crime Laboratory reported the drugs were fake,” the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) said.

The complaint, which was signed by CIDU chief Senior Superintendent Albert Ignatius Ferro, is set for preliminary investigation by the DOJ task force on drug cases.