NBI still clueless on missing shabu, Perez complains

If the Pasay City court is clueless on the missing P20 million worth of almost nine kilos of shabu, so is the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in whose custody the contraband mysteriously disappeared recently, it was learned yesterday.

"That is really our problem. Nobody even knows when those drugs disappeared," Justice Secretary Hernando Perez told reporters in Filipino, adding the seized drugs could have been gone a long time ago but was discovered only now.

The disappearance of 8.67 kilos of metamphetamine hydrochloride from the NBI laboratory is being investigated by a committee headed by NBI Deputy Director for Intelligence Samuel Ong, who is expected to come up with a report this week.

"I asked (NBI Director Reynaldo) Wycoco to come out with the results of the investigation as soon as possible. Ang problema hanggang ngayon hindi pa rin malaman kung kelan nawala e. So posibleng matagal na."

Lawyer Reynaldo Esmeralda, head of the group that confiscated the drugs – a part of the 250-kilo haul in December 2000, – denied any involvement in the case, pointing out that the NBI laboratory was to blame since the seized drugs were just there in the open.

He noted that the NBI laboratory where the shabu was stored is not secure. He said that about 50 to 100 kilos of shabu are just "lying around" the NBI head office on Taft Avenue, Manila.

Pasay City Judge Cesar Ylagan of Regional Trial Court Branch 231 ordered Wycoco to conduct a probe on the shabu pilferage. The disappearance was discovered after the NBI failed to produce the drugs which were due for destruction.

Esmeralda, deputy head of the NBI Caraga Region, said he asked the court for the destruction of the shabu as early as October 2001 but Ylagan went on leave in November of that same year and returned only in February this year.

Ylagan’s order for the destruction of the illegal drugs led to an accounting that led to the discovery of the missing five plastic bags, which have a total weight of 8.67 kilos.

Perez nonetheless took the opportunity to make known again his proposal last December to have the contraband disposed of, through burning, even before a judgment could be rendered by the judge.

"This highlights the need to dispose of the seized drugs before the termination of the case. We have made the proposal to the Supreme Court and I believe the SC has submitted it to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) for comment," said Perez.

"It is very important that the drugs be destroyed ASAP. And our concern is we would not want to see the drugs seized go back to the streets. The sooner we are allowed to do it, the better it would be for the administration of justice."

"In other words, we would not want to wait for the conclusion of these cases before the drugs are destroyed. The purpose is to have a uniform rule to prevent drugs from being recycled," he explained.

The proposal is to first get the minimum quantity of drugs needed for the conviction of a drug suspect (like 200 grams of shabu for death penalty cases), or in cases of excess, samples should be taken for forensic experts to determine the drugs.

Third is to ask the courts to take "judicial notice" of it, which means it will no longer be debated upon by both parties whether the substance was fake or not, and upon acknowledgment of the court, the contraband will be destroyed.

"We will see to it that this (drugs recycling as bared by Rosebud) will not happen again and therefore we are going to ask for the destruction of these drugs," Perez pointed out.

The burning of drugs should be witnessed by everybody, from the policemen, to the prosecutors, to members of the judiciary and the tri-media, so that no doubts will be raised as to the issue of whether alum (tawas) or monosodium glutamate was used.

"It’s because the longer they (drugs) stay, they run the risk of being stolen, changed to either tawas or vetsin.. The burning of drugs should be under the direction of the Dangerous Drugs Board," said Perez.