Duterte orders arrest of ex-Customs exec
Lapeña backtracks: Magnetic lifters may have contained shabu
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday ordered the arrest of former Bureau of Customs (BoC) intelligence officer Jimmy Guban, who has been linked to the entry of P6.8 billion worth of shabu or methamphetamine concealed in four imported magnetic lifters found in a Cavite warehouse.
In remarks at Malacañang, Duterte said he had directed Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde to arrest Guban and bring him to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
“Tell me who is this guy asking for money, extortion. I will call him here, I’ll have him arrested,” Duterte said.
Staged raids
Guban, who had worked at the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, was among officials linked to drugs purportedly found in the magnetic lifters in August, in a report released to Malacañang reporters by Duterte on October 9.
“Guban’s style is to try to impress his boss/superior by providing accomplishments. He would present himself as a team player, raiding warehouses full of fireworks and ukay-ukay (imported used clothes),” the report said.
“His modus was to arrange with the owners the raid of their warehouses. The arrangement is for the owners to remove 75 percent of their goods, and leave the 25 percent to be caught by the BoC officials and shown off for media mileage. By doing these, he could both look good to his superior while at the same time forwarding his own agenda with the warehouse owners,” it added.
The report suggested that Guban undergo further investigation and an in-depth lifestyle check.
“The anomalies at the BoC will not come to an end until the individuals behind the illegal activities in the bureau are removed,” it stressed. “Even with great leaders, as long as these rotten personnel remain, the anomalies will still prevail,” it said.
Last month, Guban testified before a Senate hearing on the P6.8-billion smuggled shabu shipment, where he was cited for contempt for allegedly lying to the Blue Ribbon Committee.
The committee was able to establish that Guban used a “scavenger,” Joel Maritana, to sign an affidavit that would make him appear as the final consignee of the SMYD shipment that contained illegal drugs.
‘Lifters contained drugs’
Also on Wednesday, Deputy Customs Collector Ma. Lourdes Mangaoang stood firm on her claim the shipment of magnetic lifters found in a General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite warehouse in August did contain illegal drugs that slipped past Customs.
Mangaoang made the statement during the House dangerous drugs committee’s inquiry into the alleged smuggling of P6.8 billion worth of shabu.
Mangaoang, former X-ray division chief of the BoC, disclosed that X-ray images indicated something was inside the magnetic lifters.
“As an image analyst, nanindigan ho ako na may laman ito (I am standing firm that the lifters contained something),” Mangaoang said, however noting that the contents could not be determined simply based on analysis of the images.
She also alleged that the containers were packed with shabu based on testimonies and other evidence presented in the Senate blue ribbon committee inquiry, to which she was invited as an “expert witness.”
“Based on the investigation conducted by PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency), and the documentary, physical, and testimonial evidence which were presented in the Senate and as a seasoned investigator… on the basis of my other experiences, ang sinasabi ko po shabu ang laman niyan (what I’m trying to say is that the lifters contained shabu),” Mangaoang told the House panel.
This was contrary to the BoC’s position that no shabu was found in the containers.
The PDEA, meanwhile, said the four magnetic lifters contained a ton of shabu based on the detection of its drug-sniffing dog.
During the same hearing, BoC X-ray inspector John Mar Morales insisted the magnetic lifters were empty when they passed through the Manila International Container Port.
Morales said the X-ray scans showed that the hollow part of the containers were not “dense,” meaning they did not contain anything.
Lapeña changes tune
Mangaoang earlier claimed that Customs chief, Isidro Lapeña, could be protecting drug smugglers.
During the House hearing, Lapeña denied any “cover-up,” noting that the allegations were “imputed with malice.”
But he admitted, because of “circumstantial evidence,” that the magnetic lifters could have contained shabu, backtracking from his previous statements — later echoed by the President — that the lifters contained nothing.
During the inquiry, Director Toribio Noel Ilao of the Department of Public Works and Highways’ Bureau of Equipment told lawmakers that “with…the hollow area, our conclusion is the magnetic lifter…is not fit for purpose in terms of lifting any scrap materials.”
Lapeña said Ilao’s testimony was new information,
“So with those evidence, with those testimonies, I am now more inclined to believe that indeed the magnetic lifters contained shabu,” he told reporters in an interview after the inquiry.
Lapeña had said that the four magnetic lifters were swabbed and examined for illegal drugs, but the result was negative.
In a statement, Customs officials and employees expressed their support for Lapeña amid “attacks on his leadership pushed by certain groups and personalities.”
“He challenged the status quo that was prevailing within the Bureau of Customs for decades. Changing the status quo has hit and hurt people within and outside the organization. We all stand by the commissioner in his desire to change how things have been done in the bureau for decades,” they said.
“Under his leadership, the bureau started meeting its monthly collection target and is currently operating on a surplus as the fiscal year comes to an end. On numerous occasions, these changes within our agency were recognized, not only by the private sector but by Congress and the executive branch as well,” they added.
WITH REINA C. TOLENTINO AND PNA
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