CA affirms conviction of Japanese drug smuggler

FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of a Japanese national arrested and charged for attempting to smuggle out of the country methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.

In a decision by the appeals court 10^th division promulgated June 25, Associate Justice Angelita Gacutan, the author of the decision,  said the Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 110 did not commit any error when it convicted Reiichiro Hayashi for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and sentenced to suffer up to 14 years of imprisonment and a fine of P300,000.

The case stemmed after Hayashi was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in 2008 when authorities discovered in his bag some 3.9275 grams of shabu hidden under the holes of a carved male organ ashtray.

Hayashi admitted that the ashtray was his but denied knowledge of the illegal drugs stashed underneath. He said it was given to him as a gift by two Filipinas he met at a convenience story who served as his companions while travelling the country.

“The prosecution established by positive, strong and convincing evidence that [Hayashi] was caught red-handed possessing the illegal drugs. His alibi that he had no knowledge of the contents of the ashtray containing the sachets cannot be given merit,” the appeals court said.

In his appeal, Hayashi took note of the inconsistencies of the officers, who arrested him for their failure to identify the marked shabu sachets as the same illegal drugs confiscated from him.

But the appeals court said “contradictions on minor or trivial details are not unnatural and are normally considered as enhancing, rather than debilitating the testimony of the witness.”