Ex-BOC exec denies P6.4-B shabu conspiracy

A former Bureau of Customs official implicated in the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu yesterday denied there was a conspiracy among BOC officials to allow the entry of the shipment.

Former Customs Investigation and Intelligence Service (CIIS) chief Neil Anthony Estrella cited as proof the official statement issued by the Chinese embassy last Tuesday, which attested to the close coordination and cooperation of the BOC officials with their Chinese counterparts about the entry of the cargo containing 604 kilos of shabu last May.

He stressed that the Chinese government even lauded his team for the recovery of the illegal drugs from a warehouse in Valenzuela following a tip from a Chinese customs official.

Estrella also denied the allegation of bribery by Customs broker Mark Taguba, a witness in the ongoing Senate inquiry on the drug smuggling.

“If this was true, then we would not have raided and seized his drug shipment, and later on brought him and his Chinese partner to the NBI, where we also filed a complaint affidavit against him,” he said, referring to the National Bureau of Investigation.

Estrella said the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) filed charges against the BOC officials to exonerate Taguba.

In its complaint, PDEA accused Estrella, former BOC commissioner Nicanor Faeldon and 10 other officers for conspiracy to import illegal drugs and protecting or coddling of drug traffickers; obstruction of justice by concealing the persons behind the drug shipment; negligence and tolerance and graft.

The accused ex-BOC officials thanked Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee for talking to Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua to clear up this issue.