Taguba gets life term for P6.4 billion shabu smuggling

MANILA, Philippines — Seven years after authorities seized over half a ton of shabu worth P6.4 billion in a Valenzuela warehouse raid, a Manila court found alleged Customs “fixer” Mark Taguba and two others guilty of drug importation.

The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 sentenced Taguba, along with dummy consignee Eirene Mae Tatad and businessman Kenneth Dong, to life imprisonment and ordered them to pay P500,000 each for violating the Dangerous Drugs Act.

In its 37-page decision, the court ruled that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused facilitated the entry of illegal drugs into the country.

The evidence included 500 transparent bags of shabu concealed in five metal cylinders housed within wooden crates inside a shipping container originating from China.

The court affirmed the integrity of the evidence and the preservation of the chain of custody.

It also cited a conspiracy among the accused, stating that their coordinated but distinct actions enabled the
smuggling of the illegal substances.

Six other suspects, however, remain at large in connection with the case.

Taguba, Tatad and Dong had previously been convicted for violations of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, including smuggling, misdeclaration of goods and facilitation of smuggled items.