Mexican tried for trafficking P12M cocaine seeks bail

The Mexican national tagged by authorities as one of the leaders of the dreaded Sinaloa international drug cartel, who was caught last January for allegedly selling two kilos of cocaine worth P12 million, filed an urgent motion for bail during the pre-trial hearing of his case on Thursday.

Horacio Hernandez Herrera’s legal counsel William Delos Santos asked Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 63 Judge Tranquil Salvador Jr. to allow his client charged with violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 to post bail.

In his urgent motion for bail, Delos Santos invoked Office of the Court Administrator Circular No. 56-2014 or the Guidelines for Decongesting Holding Jails by Enforcing the Rights of the Accused Persons to Bail and to Speedy Trial especially that Herrera was already transferred to a regular cell at the Makati City Jail last month from his detention area at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). He suggested that the motion be heard during the start of the hearing which has been scheduled for Oct. 28.

Salvador accepted the motion then gave Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera time to submit his comment on it.

Among the pieces of evidence presented by the defense for marking was the urine test conducted on Herrera, who was also present during the hearing. Delos Santos said the accused tested negative for metamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA (ecstasy).

They also submited Herrera’s counter-affidavit and passport.

“For our witnesses, we will have the accused and three other reserved witnesses,” Delos Santos added.

The prosecution also submitted for marking evidence such as the inventory of the seized drugs, four pieces of $100 bills used as boodle money and PDEA’s authority to operate.

During his arraignment last June, Herrera entered a plea of not guilty before the court five months after he was arrested outside a hotel on Makati Avenue, Barangay Poblacion, by members of the antinarcotics task force of PDEA.

PDEA had described the Mexican as No. 3 in the hierarchy of the Sinaloa cartel who was trying to establish his own operations in Southeast Asia. Hernandez entered the country reportedly in 2013.