MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) clarified that they had already been planning to file charges against Jacky Co, who was linked to the shabu seized at the port of Manila, even before Sen. Panfilo Lacson named the suspect in his privilege speech.
“ PDEA is scheduled to file the case against Jacky Co before the Department of Justice on May 31, 2019 as agreed upon during our case conference held last May 28, 2018 — a day before Senator Panfilo Lacson delivered his privilege speech,” PDEA said in a statement on Saturday.
The agency was referring to Lacson’s identification of Zhijian Xu, alias Jacky Co, a Chinese man who was responsible for the 276 kilos of shabu seized by authorities that arrived at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) on March 22.
In his privilege speech on Wednesday, the senator said Co was among the most wanted persons in mainland China and is included in the Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) watchlist.
READ: Lacson names Chinese man behind P1.8-B drug shipment
PDEA also said gathering evidence against Jacky Co “did not happen overnight” and that it took them two months to undergo the case build-up.
“In the course of the investigation, the name of Jacky Co, a key person of Dragon Wu Syndicate, surfaced because of an affidavit executed by a witness. Since then, we have been building the case/evidence against Jacky Co. Case build-ups and evidence-gathering are not accomplished overnight,” PDEA said.
“It normally takes law enforcers, like PDEA, months or even years. In the case of Jacky Co, luckily, it took PDEA two months only,” the agency added.
On Friday, PDEA filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) the drug cases against Co and 16 other personalities involved in the smuggling of P1.8 billion worth of “shabu” or methamphetamine hydrochloride.
Wealth Lotus Empire Corporation based in Sampaloc, Manila and Fortuneyield Cargo Services were named as the alleged consignee of illegal drugs found at the MICP.
READ: PDEA files charges vs Jacky Co, 16 others in P1.8 ‘shabu’ smuggling
The cargo was allegedly consigned to the Wealth Lotus Empire Corporation, PDEA said. (Editor: Julie Espinosa)
READ: P1.8 B shabu seized at Manila port