Seven years after authorities seized more than half a ton of shabu worth P6.4 billion from a warehouse in Valenzuela, a Manila court has sentenced Mark Taguba, an alleged Customs fixer, along with two others, for drug trafficking.
The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 sentenced Taguba, along with dummy consignee Eirene Mae Tatad and businessman Kenneth Dong, to life imprisonment and fined each of them P500,000 for violating the Dangerous Drugs Act.
In its 37-page decision, the court stated that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused facilitated the entry of illegal drugs into the country. The evidence included 500 transparent bags of shabu hidden inside five metal cylinders, which were in wooden crates inside a shipping container that originated from China."
The court upheld the integrity of the evidence and the preservation of the chain of custody. It also highlighted the conspiracy among the accused, noting that their interconnected yet distinct actions allowed the smuggling of illegal drugs.
Meanwhile, six more suspects remain at large in connection with the case.
Taguba, Tatad, and Dong had previously been convicted for violations of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, including smuggling, false declaration of goods, and handling contraband goods.
