PNP files charges vs Acop, 11 others

The Philippine National Police has filed before the Ombudsman graft and drug trafficking charges against 12 police officers led by the former Narcotics Group chief, Director Reynaldo Acop, the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said yesterday.

CIDG chief Nestorio Gualberto said the charges stemmed from the revelations of former civilian undercover agent Mary "Rosebud" Ong before three Senate committees.

Aside from Acop, the other police officials charged were Superintendents Francisco Villaroman and John Campos, Chief Inspector Julius Ceasar Mana and Senior Inspectors Cesar Aquino and Dean Reed Rivera.

Also charged were Senior Police Officer 2 Mabini Rosales and five others whose identities were not released.

Reacting to Acop’s allegations that the CIDG was wasting its time and money in this investigation, Gualberto said the PNP has at least eight new witnesses and evidence against Acop and the other police officers.

"We have to determine what the new witnesses have to say and clearly establish the link of the concerned police officials on alleged illegal activities," he said, but refused to identify most of the new witnesses.

While charges have been filed, Gualberto added that his team is coordinating with the proper authorities in China and Hong Kong to gather statements of other Chinese victims.

"Proper coordination is being made with the authorities in China and Hong Kong; we are not dealing with drug lords as (Director) Acop alleged," he said.

Acop said on Tuesday that the CIDG is wasting the people’s money in its mission to gather new witnesses and document other victims in China late this month. Gualberto said probers found Acop and his men liable for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for the alleged several "irregularities" they committed while implementing Operational Plan (Oplan) Athena in 1998.

When she testified before the Senate, Ong revealed that Oplan Athena was implemented by the PNP-NarcGroup under Acop from Feb. 15, 1998 up to May 7, 1998 with the approval of former PNP chief Roberto Lastimoso.

Ong said Acop and his men were involved in the supposedly suspicious NarcGroup drug raid on Dec. 6, 1998 when four Chinese nationals were arrested but later released despite the recovery of some 30 grams of shabu and three unlicensed firearms.

Gualberto said the CIDG also gave credence to the testimony of former police informant Remus Garganera, who allegedly assisted Campos in storing seized drugs.

Garganera claimed that the NarcGroup in 1998 arrested a suspected Chinese drug lord, identified as Chong Yu Ming, from whom 10 kilos of shabu were supposedly seized but the narcotics were not turned over to the proper authorities but resold in the streets.