Drug smuggling charges were filed by former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Wednesday before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte and several others in connection with the P6.4 billion worth of shabu shipment that was smuggled out of the Bureau of Custom - Manila International Container Port (BOC-MICP) in May 2017 but were seized in a warehouse in Valenzuela City three days after.

The former senator in his complaint, also named Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband Maneses “Mans” Carpio, former Bureau of Customs (BoC) commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, Davao City Council Nilo Abellera Jr., businessman Pompey Perez, retired Davao City intelligence official of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Allen Capuyan, Taiwanese businessman Charlie Tan, former BoC employee Teofilo Jose Bacud, retired Marine colonel Neil Anthony Estrella, and a certain Nanie Cabatu Coronacion, as respondents.

To recall, in May 2018, the special fact-finding panel of the Office of the Ombudsman cleared Pulong Duterte and Mans Carpio of any criminal and administrative liabilities in connection with the smuggled drug shipment.

The former lawmaker insisted that the so-called “Davao Group” was behind the shipment; thus, should be held liable for conspiracy to import illegal drugs under Section 4 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Trillanes anchored his complaint on the Senate investigation conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, then headed by former senator Richard Gordon in 2017, which recommended the filing of criminal charges against several individuals. But he noted that Pulong Duterte and Mans Carpio were spared in the filing of the charges.

“I think they [Dutertes] have lost their control over the judiciary as proven by the dismissal of the drug charges against former senator Leila de Lima by the lower court. We now see that the justice system is fair that’s why we decided to pursue the filing of this case,” Trillanes said.

Trillanes said the entry of the shipment into the Philippine territory was facilitated in violation of the procedure of the BOC since it was able to pass through the “green lane” even though its consignee, EMT Trading, was a first-time importer and a sole proprietor.

A custom broker Mark Ruben Taguba II was able to facilitate the entry of the shipment without it having to go through the rigorous examination process of the BOC.

Taguba testified before the Senate that his shipments managed to pass through the BOC without rigid inspection because of the influence and protection of the Davao group.

Trillanes said it was Taguba who mentioned the names of Pulong Duterte and Mans Carpio as part of the Davao Group in the Senate investigation.