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Sunday, October 03, 2004
Arrest warrant out vs shabu 'boss'
CEBU CITY -- An arrest warrant was issued against suspected drug kingpin Calvin de Jesus Tan, tagged as financier of the mega shabu laboratory in Mandaue City.
Regional Trial Court Branch 28 Executive Judge Marilyn Yap in Mandaue City issued the warrant against the 29-year-old Chinese-Filipino Saturday.
Also, PDEA Director Anselmo Avenido said his office will request Hong Kong's anti-money laundering office to freeze Tan's assets in the former British colony.
Charges
Tan, with aliases Lin Chui Wi, Joey Ng and Joey Lin, has been charged, along with 11 arrested shabu makers in Mandaue City, for manufacturing of illegal drugs.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) filed the criminal charges against Tan hours after lawmen arrested him in Hong Kong Thursday morning.
He was caught with $820,000 in US and Hong Kong notes and illegal drugs such as shabu, cocaine and Ketamine.
He will also face trial in Hong Kong for drug possession, which could hold back his return to the Philippines.
Conference
The House committee on dangerous drugs, PDEA, the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs will hold a conference tomorrow to discuss how to bring back Tan to the country.
The multi-agency meeting will be held at PDEA headquarters in Manila.
"We cannot do it alone. We have to coordinate with these agencies for the swift return of Tan to the country and face the drug charges here," said Rep. Antonio Cuenco, vice chairman on the drugs committee.
Avenido also cited the need to freeze the drug suspect's assets pending results of the investigation conducted by the Philippines' Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
The PDEA director said the AMLC will look into the drug suspect's assets, either property or financial, as part of the move to strengthen the criminal case against him.
675 kilos
During the raid on the warehouse complex in Umapad, Mandaue City last Sept. 24, about 675 kilos of shabu valued at P1.3 billion, precursor chemicals and laboratory equipment were seized.
Eleven suspects, mostly foreign nationals of Chinese descent, were put behind bars.
Two subsequent raids on warehouses in Paknaan and Looc uncovered a mini-laboratory and storage building for shabu precursor.
Cuenco, also chairman on the House committee on foreign affairs, hopes the issued arrest warrant against Tan could help them in persuading Hong Kong authorities for the suspect's transfer here.
Cuenco (Cebu City, south district) Rep. Roque Ablan (Ilocos Norte, 1st district), chairman on the House committee on dangerous drugs, and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 Reynaldo Esmeralda acknowledged that the return of Tan to the Philippines will take time because of Hong Kong's independent governing policy.
Tan, whose Manila address is at 2204-A Escolta Twin Towers, must face trial in the former British colony for the charges of illegal possession of drugs.
He was arraigned Saturday but Sun.Star could not get the results yet at press time.
Although the Philippines and the People's Republic of China have an existing extradition treaty, Hong Kong has its own policy that prohibits the imposition of death penalty.
Reports also said that Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes ordered an investigation of a politician suspected to have a link to the shabu laboratory in Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City.
Affidavits
The NBI 7 already forwarded to PDEA 7 Chief Amado Marquez the affidavits of a woman real estate broker and her engineer-father in connection with the rental of a warehouse in Tipolo, Mandaue City.
Two arrested drug suspects, Joseph "Jimmy" Yu and Allan Garcia, reportedly rented the warehouse for one year as a storage facility of ready-to-use shabu at P18,500 a month starting August.
Esmeralda also submitted to the PDEA 7 certified true copies of 10 checks issued by Yu to warehouse owner Reynaldo Tacder. (GC)
(October 3, 2004 issue)
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