The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has formally recommended a lifestyle check and the filing of drug charges and other criminal cases against a former Philippine National Police officer, an ex-Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency agent, and 17 other personalities allegedly involved in the P11-billion shabu shipment that were discovered inside magnetic lifters last August.
In the 46-page Senate Committee Report No. 544, the panel, chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon, recommended lifestyle check – including investigation by the Anti-Money Laundering Council – against former Senior Supt. Eduardo Acierto, relieved PDEA Deputy Director General Ismael Fajardo, several Bureau of Customs officials, and other persons who were involved in the illegal shipment.
Also included in the list of those recommended to be charged for the shabu shipment were Jimmy Guban, a former Customs intelligence officer who “is the acolyte of Acierto and Fajardo”; Meg Santos, a reputed big-time player at the Bureau of Customs; and Customs employees Joseph Dimayuga, Gorgonio Necessario, Noli Martinez, Girlie Umali, and Adzhar Albani,
The committee report was signed by 14 senators – Gordon, Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan II, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Manny Pacquiao, Cynthia Villar, Sherwin Gatchalian, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Nancy Binay, Franklin Drilon, Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, and Ralph Recto.
The committee report tagged Acierto as the “linchpin in all these events” and who facilitated the entry of the magnetic lifters that contained billions worth of shabu at the BoC.
Fajardo and Acierto have earlier been tagged by President Duterte as part of the drug matrix in the recycling of seized drugs.
Fajardo, the committee report stated, “was always pretending to be one step behind creating an impression that he was actively pursuing the shipment, but in truth and in fact, he was protecting the shipment and deliberately misleading the operation, in conspiracy with Acierto and Guban.”
However, the committee report did not include former Customs chief Isidro Lapeña in the list of personalities who have criminal culpability. Lapeña was at the helm of the BoC leadership at the time the magnetic lifters were shipped to the country. (Hannah L. Torregoza)
