Court to schedule case review vs 6 men

THE Regional Trial Court (RTC) is yet to schedule the review of the case against six employees of Maersk Filipinas Inc. for trying to conceal bricks of cocaine in reefer vans at their compound in Sasa, Davao City sometime in 2009.

A staff from the RTC Branch 13 said there has been no schedule yet since it was forwarded to their office on Thursday morning.

In a resolution promulgated on June 22, Jesus Nobela, Alvin Reyes, Leo Dalisay, and Francisco Manago, Rodger Carael of Dona Asuncion Street, Davao City, and Marivic Ruiz were charged with violation of Section 11 (Possession of Dangerous Drugs) of Republic Act 9165, otherwise known as Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The case against Carael and Ruiz were earlier dismissed by the City Prosecutor’s Office (CPO) for lack of probable cause.

The two were found to be liable of the charge along with four other Maersk employees based on the automatic review of the case conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) panel.

Maersk Line is a global containerized shipping division of A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, one of the largest line shipping companies in the world with a container depot in Davao City.

They were charged based on the accounts of Jonathan Morales of the Intelligence and Investigation Service chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Quezon City.

Morales filed the complaint based on the affidavit of Richard Silva Pelaez of the International Reefer Services (IRS) Inc. who was assigned at the Maersk Line container yard where the bricks of high grade cocaine weighing 16 kilos with an estimated value of P54 million were found last December 2009.

The DOJ earlier issued a hold departure order against all the respondents pending the resolution of the case. (Arianne Caryl N. Casas)