A Manila City court has issued a hold departure order against former police official Eduardo Acierto and six others who have been charged with drug charges over the smuggling of billions worth of shabu.
Upon the request of government prosecutors, the Manila City Regional Trial Court Branch 35 issued the HDO, directing the Bureau of Immigration to prevent the accused from leaving the country.
Judge Ma. Bernardita Santos has set no bail for the arrest of the accused as drug importation charges are non-bailable under the law.
Aside from Acierto, also covered by the HDO are former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Deputy Director for Administration Ismael Fajardo; importers Chan Yee Wah alias KC Chan and Zhou Quan alias Zhang Quan; consignees Vedasto Cabral Baraquel Jr. and Maria Lagrimas Catipan of Vecaba Trading; and Emily Luquingan.
Another accused, former Customs Intelligence Officer Jimmy Guban, was already taken into custody of the National Bureau of Investigation on April 17.
BI records showed that Acierto and Fajardo are still in the country. Acierto last left the country in April 2017 while Fajardo in May 2015.
The court also issued earlier a warrant of arrest against all eight accused.
Acierto surfaced recently in a press conference with select media outfits and linked President Rodrigo Duterte’s former adviser Michael Yan in the illegal drug trade in the country.
The indictment of Acierto and company was kept confidential by the DOJ as it tapped NBI agents to silently operate and arrest them during the Holy Week break.
However, the resolution indicting the accused was leaked to an online news outfit before Holy Week, jeopardizing the manhunt operations.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has ordered an investigation on the leakage to determine who was responsible for it.