9 Chinese, 2 Filipinos found guilty for operating drug lab in Cebu

Friday, February 24, 2012

CEBU CITY (Updated) – The court has found 11 out of 12 suspects, including the alleged financier, of making illegal drugs in what police deemed as a drug laboratory in Umapad, Mandaue City in 2004.

In a 277-page decision, Judge Marilyn Lagura-Yap of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 28 in Mandaue City found guilty drug manufacturer Calvin de Jesus Tan, Joseph Yu, Siew Kin Weng, Liew Kam Song, Lin Li Ku, Bao Xiafu, Wu Tiao Yi, Tao Fei, Liu Bo, Allan Yap Garcia and Joseph Lopez for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

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She sentenced them to a life in prison and fined them P10 million each.

Also, the foreign nationals included in the case -- Tan, Siew, Lin, Bao, Wu, Tao, and Liu -- will be deported immediately after they have served their sentences.

Reacting to the verdict, Tan told reporters, “They just used the testimony of the most guilty. It’s unfair. It’s so unfair.”

Suspect-turn-state witness Hung Chin Chang, also known as Simon Lao and Andy/Anthony Ang, was acquitted of all charges and was ordered released from jail.

CEBU. At the promulgation at the sala of Regional Trial Court Judge Marilyn Lagura-Yap in Mandaue City, Calvin Tan (in orange shirt) and the 10 other men involved in the manufacture of illegal drugs in what was described as a mega shabu laboratory, are found guilty of violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. Tan, through his lawyer Gloria Dalawampu, will file a motion for reconsideration of the order.  (Arni Aclao)

Hung, a British national, was arrested along with 10 of the convicts in a joint raid conducted by the police and members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in 2004.

Hung had applied to become a state witness against his co-accused, despite objections from the defense.

In Yap’s decision, the court gave more credence to Hung’s testimony that it was Tan who issued the orders to rent warehouses for the production of the dangerous drugs.

“There is no doubt that the testimony of Hung Chin Chang is a direct, personal and positive declaration of the roles of those involved in the operation of the shabu (methamphetamine) laboratory, particularly the role played by Calvin Tan,” the court said.

Hung’s testimony showed that he was privy to the plans of Tan to lease warehouses that could store the ingredients, produce shabu, dry and dispatch it for sale. Hung also identified three warehouses that Tan rented.

Actual production was done at the warehouse in Umapad (Caps R Us). Hung had also identified another warehouse in Paknaan where the drying area of shabu was placed. Another warehouse in Looc served as packaging and storage area.

Hung was offered by Tan with a job of setting up the illegal business enterprise in the country. He was reportedly promised with a lot of money.

Hung’s testimony was further supported by witness Morteza Tamaddoni who said the former brought him to Hong Kong to meet “Boss Joey,” who was identified as Tan.

Judge Yap said there was reason to conclude that the agreement between Tan, Hung and Yu to operate the clandestine shabu laboratory made Tan already liable, even if he wasn’t present in the actual production of the shabu in the warehouse.

The prosecution also proved the aggravating circumstance that foreigners were employed in the manufacturing process.

The court also found that the overwhelming presence of precursors such as ephedrine and chloroephedrine and essential chemicals such as barium sulfate, sodium acetate, sodium trihydrates, palladium chloride, ephedrine, thionyl chloride, acetone and sodium hydroxide and laboratory equipment such as scrubber, centrifuge and hydrogenators inside the alleged clandestine laboratory constitutes “prima facie proof of manufacture of any dangerous drug.”

“It is thus quite reasonable to conclude that the warehouse, Caps R Us warehouse located in Umapad, Mandaue City, was used as a clandestine shabu laboratory. The warehouse at Caps R Us was not a pharmaceutical or a research laboratory lawfully recognized by the government. It was in fact, a huge clandestine shabu laboratory,” the judge said.

In September 2004, Hung and the 10 other convicts were arrested inside the Caps R Us warehouse by a joint team composed of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF).

Authorities seized 675 kilograms of high-grade shabu estimated to be worth P1.3 billion.

A month later, Tan, who was accused of masterminding the mega shabu lab in Umapad, was arrested in Hong Kong by AIDSOTF operatives.

Interviewed after the promulgation, Tan said the court gave weight to the testimony of Hung, a fellow Chinese tourist whom he described as the “guiltiest” among them.

“He’s a liar. He is lying,” a teary-eyed Tan told reporters. “Siya and pinaka-guilty dito. Paano siya maging state witness? I cannot understand.”

Since July 2003, Tan said, he had not returned to the Philippines. Tan was arrested by immigration officials in Hong Kong in 2004.

He said his passport and other vital documents pertinent to his stay in the country were taken by local authorities and were not presented in court during the trial.

“Kung wala akong passport, papano ako makarating rito?” Tan asked. Tan lamented he was arrested merely because he is the “boss” of his group.

Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu, counsel for Tan, said they will file a motion for reconsideration.

She said they noticed that the court fully relied on Hung’s testimony.

Hung, she said, was not qualified to be a state witness because he was the most guilty.

Dalawampu said the police and immigration officials and the National Bureau of Investigation got hold of Tan’s documents, such as passport.

All the documents will show the details of travel, but the prosecution did not present them in court, she said.

These documents, including Tan’s mobile phone bills, would have shown the number of people he had talked to in Macau, Dalawampu said. (Sun.Star Cebu)