"It pays well. Plus, you get promoted."
"It pays well. Plus, you get promoted."
At around 10 in the morning of Nov. 29, 2013, a 13-man team from the Pampanga Police raided a house in Woodbridge Subdivision, Lakeshore, Pampanga. At that time, the provincial police chief was then-Police Colonel Oscar Albayalde.
At the Woodbridge house, the raiding team found more than 200 kilos of shabu. The seized illegal drug was so heavy it took four men to carry it out of the house. The team also found and confiscated P10 million in cash. At P5,500 to P6,000 per kilo at the time of the raid, the 200 kilos were easily worth P1.1 billion to P1.2 billion.
The raiders spotted a certain Chinese national by the name of Johnson Lee. Lee ran away and tried to seek help in a nearby barangay hall. A barangay official surrendered Lee instead to the raiding policemen. Mysteriously, Lee, said to be a high-profile drug trafficker, was set free, but not after parting away with P50 million or P55 million in ransom money.
After the raid, the raiding team reported only having seized only 36 or 38 kilos of shabu. They did not report about having grabbed P10 million cash. And they presented as a suspect to authorities, not Johnson Lee, but another person, by the name of Ding Wenkun. And yes, the time of the raid was pegged at 4 p.m., six hours later.
Soon after, the price of shabu in Pampanga went down to just P4,000 per kilo. This is the law of supply and demand. So the 200 kilos became worth only P800 million. At P4,000 per kilo, the 38 kilos reported were worth only P152 million, not P228 million.
Soon after, a number of intelligence officers in the Pampanga police force acquired brand-new luxury vehicles. This intrigued the then chief of the Philippine National Police, Alan Purisima. In February 2014, he asked the then chief of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, police Brig. Gen. Benjamin B. Magalong to conduct a probe. “Mayroon silang nakuhang mga 30-plus na kilos na shabu. Pero bigla silang nagkaroon ng magagandang sasakyan, sabay–sabay,” Purisima muttered.
At that time, Magalong had briefed Chief Purisima about the existence of a so-called “agaw–bato” racket. Policemen snatch illegal drugs but report finding only a small portion of it, and then recycle the balance in the market, making money in the process. Policemen involved in “agaw–bato” are called “ninja” cops.
Magalong went to work. He went to the crime scene. He conducted a reenactment. His men interviewed subdivision guards and other witnesses.
His findings, per Magalong’s own testimony before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Sept. 19, and Oct. 3.
First, the raid was on Nov. 29, 2013 when the operation was conducted in Woodbridge Subdivision.
Second, the raid was in the morning, based on the testimonies of the guards and the barangay officials.
Third, they were able to seize substantial amount of drugs but declared only around 38 kilograms.
Fourth, they were able to arrest one particular high-profile drug trafficker, a Chinese national by the name of Johnson Lee.
And they were able to seize cash as well. That was what was indicated in their official report.
But when we conducted the investigation, these were our findings based on the crime scene reenactment:
They have seized more or less 200 kilograms of shabu. That is based on the testimonies and based on our reenactment.
While they arrested Johnson Lee, who initially escaped during that particular raid, Lee was able to seek the help of the barangay officials. A barangay official, however, turned him over to the arresting officers.
It turned out that during the presentation, it was not Johnson Lee that they presented but another individual, a Chinese national by the name of Ding Wenkun.
Narrated Magalong:
“Yong mga witnesses mismo ang nagsabi na sa laki—sa sobrang dami ng shabu na nakumpiska doon sa bahay, halos apat na tao ang nagbubuhat doon sa oversized na maleta. Apat na tao ang nagbubuhat. At kitang-kita nila na pati iyong shabu ay tumutulo pa, tumutulo pa.
“And according to one of the witnesses, who is an official of a security agency, noong pumasok siya, kinunan niya iyong picture pati iyong hagdanan, kitang–kita niya talaga, nakakalat iyong shabu doon at iyong trail noong drugs doon mismo sa hagdanan. It only showed that there was no proper handling of evidence.
“According to our witnesses, ang sabi nila—and this is corroborated by several witnesses, may dala–dala pang isang box na pera palabas doon sa building o doon sa residence na dinadala nila doon sa sasakyan at ito ay punung–puno ng pera.
“Ang size noong box is around 24 inches by 24 inches by 12 inches. Again, according to our witnesses, ang sabi nila, hirap na hirap pang isara. Sa dami noong shabu na nilagay doon sa maleta, hirap na hirap silang isara. So, when we did our reenactment and based on the observations of the witnesses, we calculated that there are about 200 kilograms of shabu that was actually seized.
“The group was led by a certain Police Superintendent Rodney Baloyo, who was then the intelligence officer of the Pampanga Provincial Office.
“When General Petrasanta who was then the [Central Luzon] regional director found out that we were investigating the case, he immediately relieved General Albayalde, who was then a police senior superintendent, and immediately conducted his own investigation and filed a case against the team of Police Superintendent Rodney Baloyo.”
Baloyo and his 12 officers in the Pampanga Police’s anti-illegal drugs unit were recommended for dismissal. Albayalde himself was relieved of his post as Pampanga police chief.
Today, Baloyo is the chief of police of Tagaytay and four-star police General Albayalde the chief of the 200,000-strong Philippine National Police.
The lesson here: Crime does pay, and pays well. You make money. You get promoted.