3 Chinese men get life terms in P8M ‘shabu’ buy-bust 13 years ago
Citing the “complete” police work that led to their arrest, the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court on Tuesday sentenced three Chinese nationals to life imprisonment after finding them guilty of carrying illegal drugs worth P8 million 13 years ago.
Chua Tony Hiong Que, Hung King Sing Jimmy and George Sy each got a life term and were also ordered to pay P10 million in fines.
But Judge Carlos Villanueva of Branch 213 acquitted their Filipino driver, Isidro Labitag, and ordered his immediate release from detention.
According to the court ruling, the four men were arrested in a buy-bust operation carried out by members of what was then the Philippine National Police (PNP) Narcotics Group in the afternoon of Jan. 17, 1999, in front of Robinson Apartelle along EDSA.
The PNP team recovered 21 kilos of methamphetamine hydrochloride, or “shabu,” which the Chinese men were caught selling to a policeman who posed as a buyer.
The judge gave credence to prosecution evidence and police testimonies, saying these “presented a complete picture” of the buy-bust operation, from the initial contact with the targets, the agreement between the poseur buyer and the pusher, to the delivery of the illegal drugs.
His ruling noted that the accused merely denied that a buy-bust operation took place and claimed they were abducted separately by different men.
Villanueva also dismissed the claims of the Chinese that the PNP tried to extort money from them and their family, calling these “a common defense ploy.”
In acquitting the Filipino driver, the judge said Labitag had no actual participation in the sale of illegal drugs “as he remained inside the car at the drivers’ seat” during the entrapment operation, based on the testimonies of the police.
Asked why it took more than a decade for the court to decide the case, Homer Pena, the court’s officer in charge, said the proceedings were met with delays due to the frequent absences of witnesses from both the prosecution and the defense.
