Cops hit granting of bail to Korean drug suspect

The government’s renewed campaign against illegal drugs apparently suffered a major setback when on a mere technicality, a judge from Pasig City granted bail to a Korean national caught last year in possession of more than a kilo of shabu.

As expected, the cops who made the arrest are extremely displeased.

Last June 16, Judge Leoncio Janolo Jr. of the Pasig City regional trial court (RTC) Branch 264 granted bail to suspect Tae Won Hong, alias Francis.

Possession of 10 grams or more of shabu in a non-bailable offense. For the Korean, bail was set at P500,000.

"This is a major blow to the government’s anti-drug drive. We have a strong case against Tae," said Superintendent Federico Laciste Jr., leader of a team of agents from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) that arrested Tae last Nov. 20 at his rented condo unit t the Ortigas Center in Pasig City.

Janolo, however, defended his decision, saying that what he ruled on was the bail motion filed by Tae’s lawyer Silvestre Dollete.

"That was only on the bail issue," Janolo said, pointing out that there is still no decision yet on the shabu found in Tae’s condo unit.

To ensure that the foreigner does not skip town, Janolo ordered Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo to issue a hold departure order against Tae.

Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Eduardo Garcia expressed dismay over Janolo’s decision, saying he will file a manifestation questioning the untimely granting of bail to the accused.

Records showed that Laciste, the deputy chief of the CIDG Detection and Special Operations Division, and his men arrested Tae and seized more than a kilo of shabu and equipment last Nov. 20.

In a bid to wiggle his way out of the arrest, Tae showed the cops an ID card showing he was an agent of the National Bureau of Investigation. The card turned out later to be issued to another Korean national.

Laciste claimed Tae, in the presence of the condo’s security guards, offered a P100,000 bribe for his release but was turned down. The suspect likewise failed to show proper documents to explain his continued stay in the country. "It’s difficult crack bigtime drug syndicates," admitted Laciste, who was credited for the busting of the shabu laboratories in Pasig City and San Juan in the last two years. "We are able to nail a number of them but what is demoralizing is that they are back in the streets after a short period of time."

Laciste is hoping that the government would intercede in Tae’s case just like in the cases involving arrested shabu lab operators who were returned to jail after judges granted them bail.

The CIDG raiders were armed with a search warrant issued by Judge Alfredo Flores of the RTC Branch 167 when they arrested Tae.

In his two-page decision, Janolo said allowed bail for Tae after discovering that the raiders arrested the Korean inside his car and not inside his condo unit.

"Witnesses were one is saying the accused was not committing any crime when his vehicle was stopped at the driveway of the condominium. Neither was there a validly issued warrant of arrest to support such police action," said Janolo.

The judge emphasized that presentation and evaluation of defense evidence will finally determine any criminal liability of Tae.