But the close coordination of the offices of Narcotics (NarcGroup) chief Director Efren Fernandez and Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo prevented the suspect, Peter Chua, said to be a son of a bigtime drug lord in China, from making good his plan to escape prosecution in the country.
"The Chinese drug syndicates will always find ways to evade the legal consequences of their illegal activities," said Fernandez in an interview. "The deportation request is just one of their modus operandi but this time we are prepared to thwart their escape attempts."
Fernandez said Chua and three other Chinese nationals were collared after a brief chase early this year in Pasay City. They yielded 57 kilos of shabu with an estimated street value of P114 million. Chua and his cohorts were turned over and jailed at the BID headquarters in Intramuros, Manila.
Worried by what happened to his son, the Chinese drug lord allegedly released millions of pesos to see to it that Chua will be freed from jail and immediately be flown back to China.
Since day one of his arrest, Fernandez said Chua’s lawyer tried all tricks in the book, including the filing of habeas corpus, to win the freedom of his client but his attempts failed. And recently, his lawyer asked the Pasay City Regional Trial Court where Chua was charged with drug trafficking manifesting his client’s intention to avail of self-deportation.
But Fernandez wrote Domingo a letter objecting strongly to the deportation proceedings of Chua arguing that he cannot leave the country because he is facing criminal charges in court. Upon receipt of his letter, Fernandez said Domingo thumbed down Chua’s request for availing of self-deportation.
Fernandez said he was aware that Chinese drug lords will resort to bribing the courts and jail authorities to make good their escape. "We are fully aware of the Chinese drug lords’ modus operandi and our close coordination with the BID and the Department of Justice (DOJ) is now working at our government’s advantage," said Fernandez.
Last Tuesday, five Chinese chemists in the Pasig City shabu lab, who were also charged with drug trafficking, a non-bailable offense, were granted bail by Judge Rodrigo Lorenzo, of the RTC Branch 266.
But two days after they regained their freedom, combined elements of the NarcGroup and BID rearrested Chua Chuy Li, 37, Xingfu Wang, 31; Joy Lu Cruz, 34; Huang Hong Wei, 34, and Tomas Lu, inside Lorenzo’s sala for their being undocumented.
As a result of the controversy, Justice Secretary Hernado Perez sacked Assistant City Prosecutor Conrado Tolentino, who was accused by elements of the Regional Intelligence and Special Operations Office (RISOO) of not lifting a finger to block Lorenzo’s bail grant.
Perez also ordered a probe into reports that P12 million changed hands for the speedy release of the five Chinese chemists.