PDEA chief orders probe on Korean’s arrest

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director Anselmo Avenido ordered yesterday an investigation into the arrest of a Korean national, who later accused PDEA agents of robbing and trying to extort money from him last Dec. 9.

Avenido summoned yesterday Director Reynaldo Jaylo, chief of PDEA’s Task Force Hunter, and ordered his men involved in the arrest of Hai Ju Ku to make themselves available before a probe body.

"We are ready to face any investigation," Jaylo told The Star. "We were only doing our job and we have nothing to hide."

Jaylo also accepted the challenge of Korean Embassy police attaché Gyung Taek Cha for Hai and the PDEA agents to undergo lie detector tests.

"We are willing to undergo polygraph tests so that we can clear ourselves," he said.

Jaylo said Hai was arrested while withdrawing money from an ATM machine near the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex at 11:30 p.m. last Dec. 9.

Hai was invited for questioning after he was allegedly caught trying to withdraw cash using various credit cards. Agents claimed they recovered 48 credit cards inside the Korean’s clutch bag.

However, Hai insisted he was collared in Makati City while leaving a Korean restaurant.

Jaylo explained that it took them 18 hours to interrogate Hai because he spoke little English. He said they allowed Hai to call up the Korean Embassy and spoke with Gyung.

He accused Gyung of "throwing his weight around" to harass his men.

The Task Force Hunter chief denied his men robbed Hai of his digital camera and P5,000. He also said they did not try to extort $10,000 from him.

"It was actually the Korean who offered my men a $10,000 for his release," said Jaylo, adding the offer was ignored and Hai was turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for proper disposition.

Jaylo admitted they have no mandate on cases not related to drugs. But he explained that he has issued strict orders to his men to immediately forward to proper government agencies all persons caught in the act of committing other crimes.

Hai denied owning the 48 credit cards, but Jaylo insisted the Korean was involved in the credit card racket.

In his five-page letter to Avenido, Gyung admitted that Hai and PDEA agents have conflicting versions of the incident. "It appears that there are two completely different stories surrounding the arrest of Mr. Ku and I have no concrete knowledge on which story is true," said Gyung.

He suggested that Hai and PDEA agents undergo lie detector tests to determine "which party is telling the truth."

According to Jaylo, the NBI is set to file proper charges against Hai, who is now languishing at the NBI jail.