HDO issued vs Eduardo Acierto, 6 others

MANILA, Philippines — A Manila court has issued a hold departure order (HDO) for former police officer Eduardo Acierto and six others who are facing charges in connection with the alleged smuggling of billions of pesos worth of shabu last year.

The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 35 issued the HDO on April 12 upon the request of government prosecutors.

The court ordered the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to prevent Acierto and the other defendants from leaving the country.

Also covered by the HDO are former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency deputy director for administration Ismael Fajardo; importers Chan Yee Wah, alias KC Chan, and Zhou Quan, alias Zhang Quan; consignees Vedasto Cabral Baraquel Jr. and Maria Lagrimas Catipan of Vecaba Trading, and Emily Luquingan.

Another defendant, former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban, is in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation.

The Department of Justice has filed charges of drug importation, which is a non-bailable offense, against the defendants.

BI records showed that Acierto and Fajardo are still in the Philippines.

Acierto last left the country in April 2017 and Fajardo in May 2015.

The court earlier issued a warrant for the arrest of the defendants.

The case stemmed from the seizure in August last year of two abandoned magnetic lifters at the Port of Manila, which contained 355 kilos of shabu worth P2.4 billion, and of four magnetic lifters at a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite believed to have been used to smuggle 1.6 tons of shabu worth P11 billion.