RESIGNED Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon could be charged with planting evidence for allowing the unauthorized “controlled delivery” of 100 kilos of shabu to a warehouse in Valenzuela City, a crime punishable by death under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said Tuesday.
The 100 kilos was part of a 604-kilo shipment of shabu that slipped past Customs in May, then recovered three days later in a raid on a Valenzuela City warehouse owned by Hongfei Logistics.
Faeldon said he ordered 100 kilos from that shipment transferred to a second warehouse as part of efforts to build a case against the owner of the warehouse.
But Barbers said Tuesday Faeldon could be held criminally liable when he ordered the delivery of the contraband to a warehouse reportedly rented out by Jhu Ming-Jyun since May 2016 in Barangay Ugong, Valenzuela City, where the caretaker Fidel Anoche Dee was arrested.
Barbers said planting of evidence is punishable by life imprisonment to death under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and said his committee would recommend these charges be filed against Faeldon.
Although the death penalty was abolished in 2006, the House has approved a bill on its reinstatement. The Senate has yet to act on the bill, however.
Barbers said Faeldon could also be charged for bungling the chain of custody in handling of the drug evidence under the same law.
The Barbers’ panel is expected to release its final committee report on Wednesday.
Barbers said his panel will recommend the filing of administrative complaints by the Office of the Ombudsman and criminal complaints by the Department of Justice against concerned public officials and employees and private individuals.
Barbers said Faeldon also violated the law when he allowed the conduct of the raid without a search warrant and for contaminating the evidence when he ordered the metal cylinders containing the drugs pried open without coordinating with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
While controlled delivery is allowed, Barbers said Faeldon failed to secure clearance from the director-general of the PDEA.
Barbers also said the panel will also recommend charges filed against importer Mark Taguba for violating laws on the importation of dangerous drugs, which is punishable by life imprisonment and a fine of P500,000 to P10 million.