THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has asked the Department of Justice to indict former Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon and 11 other Customs officials for conspiracy to import illegal drugs and protecting or coddling drug traffickers in connection with the smuggling of a P6.4-billion shabu shipment seized in May.
In a 23-page complaint filed on Monday, the PDEA sought the prosecution of Faeldon and the other Customs officers for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
Faeldon and other Customs officers were also accused of obstruction of justice by “harboring or concealing or facilitating the escape” of the people behind the shabu shipment.
Meanwhile, Faeldon on Monday sought the suspension or expulsion of Senator Panfilo Lacson after he filed an ethics complaint against the senator before the Senate ethics committee.
Faeldon asked the committee led by Senator Vicente Sotto III to find Lacson guilty of unethical, unparliamentary and improper conduct as a senator.
Faeldon said Lacson violated his constitutional rights through calumny, the abuse of his privilege as a senator and serious misconduct.
PDEA also asked that Faeldon and the other respondents be indicted for corruption and negligence.
The other respondents are Customs directors Milo Maestrecampo and Neil Anthony Estrella; intelligence officers Joel Pinawin and Oliver Valiente; Manila International Container Port district collector lawyer Vincent Phillip Maronilla; Faeldon’s fiancée, lawyer Jeline Maree Magsuci; and Customs employees Alexandra Ventura, Randolph Cabansag, Dennis Maniego, Dennis Cabildo and John Edillor.
PDEA said the importation of the illegal drugs would not have been possible if not for the “incompetence and corruption of the Bureau of Customs officials.”
“The said incompetence and corruption effectively shielded and facilitated the escape of Chen Ju Long and prevented his immediate arrest and prospective prosecution for the importation of 602.279 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu,” the complaint says.
