A man was acquitted by the Supreme Court (SC) of selling illegal drugs after arresting officers failed to conduct an inventory of the seized items at the place of arrest, with the Court ruling that, without valid justification, such a major breach is fatal to the integrity of the chain of custody.

In a 14-page ruling penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the SC Second Division granted the appeal of Joseph Espera, who challenged his conviction by the Court of Appeals for violating Section 5 of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, which covers the sale of illegal drugs.

The decision in People of the Philippines v. Joseph Espera y Bañano (G.R. No. 227313) was promulgated on 21 April 2026.

The Court found that the buy-bust team failed to conduct the required physical inventory and photographing of the seized items at the immediate place of arrest.

The ruling reaffirmed that when police officers breach the first link in the chain of custody without a concrete and justifiable reason, the presumption of regularity in the performance of official duties cannot stand, warranting an acquittal.

Records showed that in 2010, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) received information from a confidential informant that Espera, who allegedly distributed shabu, was looking for a buyer.

The information led to the formation of a buy-bust team. Upon reaching the target area, the confidential informant introduced the police officer acting as the poseur-buyer to Espera.

Espera then took a heat-sealed transparent plastic sachet containing a white crystalline substance from his right pocket and handed it to the poseur-buyer.

In exchange, the poseur-buyer gave Espera marked money consisting of two genuine P500 bills, along with P2,000 in boodle money.

When the exchange was completed, authorities arrested Espera and informed him of his constitutional rights while he was being handcuffed.

At the crime scene, police officers marked the confiscated plastic sachet before the buy-bust team returned to the PDEA regional office.

At the PDEA office, the arresting officers prepared an inventory of the seized items and other documents in Espera's presence. The proceedings were also documented through photographs, with three insulating witnesses present during the inventory.

The Regional Trial Court found Espera guilty, a ruling that was later affirmed by the Court of Appeals.

The appellate court emphasized that “the integrity and evidentiary value of the seized shabu had been preserved” and that “the prosecution's evidence sufficiently established an unbroken chain of custody over the seized sachet of shabu.”

In granting Espera's appeal, however, the SC stressed the importance of complying with the chain of custody rule in drug cases.

It found that the arresting officers breached the first link in the chain by failing to conduct the inventory and photographing of the seized drugs immediately after confiscation and at the place of arrest.

The Court noted that Section 21 of Republic Act No. 9165 requires the inventory and photographing of seized drugs to be conducted “immediately after seizure and confiscation.”