Thursday, September 28, 2006 Ex-PDEA head: papers from China needed on chemicals
INVESTIGATORS have yet to identify who illegally imported over 1,700 kilos of a shabu ingredient, more than two years after the goods were intercepted in Cebu.
“If I were still the director general, I would make a follow-up of our request to Chinese authorities to furnish us the import documents, which will surely lead to the identification of the persons who imported the pseudoephedrine,” said former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Anselmo Avenido.
An import document from China is needed to build a strong case against those involved in the P3.65-billion shipment, Avenido added.
Now the chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), Avenido said the investigation is not yet closed and there is still the possibility that some of those involved could be found and jailed.
The House committee on illegal drugs is scheduled to meet with PDEA officials today, to make sure the shipment has neither been pilfered nor tampered with.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu seized the pseudoephedrine shipment in March 2004. Avenido was replaced as PDEA director general by retired military general Dionisio Santiago last April 2006.
Avenido said that President Arroyo had ordered the PDEA to file charges against whoever was involved.
However, they could not file charges against the incorporators of Coastside Ventures Inc., the consignee identified by BOC authorities, because they all denied any links to the shipment in a sworn statement, Avenido said.
“We are giving them the benefit of the doubt, especially that it has always happened at customs that unscrupulous importers used fictitious names as consignees,” Avenido said.
He said the situation would have been different had Coastside Ventures’ owners been caught personally securing the release of the pseudoephedrine.
National Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director Reynaldo Esmeralda has said that they already gathered strong evidence against some suspects, but PDEA took over the case and brought the pseudoephedrine to Manila. (EOB)
