Drug case ruling: Same fate for big fish, small fry
Two Chinese brothers found guilty of transporting over 300 kilos of methamphetamine hydrochloride, or “shabu,” were sentenced to up to 40 years in prison while a Filipino convicted for selling less than a gram of shabu worth P200 to an undercover policeman received the same sentence.
Though the three were convicted under different laws, the judge, in separate decisions both dated Dec. 11, applied the maximum penalty in both cases after she adhered to the presumption of regularity in the arresting officers’ performance of their duties and gave no merit to the accused’s alibis.
Cai Hong Ze—who goes by the alias Edwin Hong Chua—and William Chua—whose Chinese name is Chua Kin Li—were sentenced under Republic Act 7659 after they were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of transporting 335.50 kilos of shabu in 2001 in San Narciso, Zambales.
Judge Nadine Jessica Corazon Fama of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 79 handed down the prison term of reclusion perpetua and also ordered them to pay a fine of P10 million.
On the other hand, Eduardo Manaois was convicted for selling .02 gram, or 20 milligrams, of shabu to an undercover policeman under a newer law, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. The judge penalized him with life imprisonment and a P500,000 fine.
According to court records, the Chinese brothers were intercepted while transporting 11 sacks of shabu disguised as livestock feed in their sport utility vehicle.
Article continues after this advertisementThe judge described as unbelievable the brothers’ claim that no drugs were recovered from their SUV and that the sacks of shabu were planted, pointing out that “the two accused failed to advance a logical reason why the government operatives would frame them [for] a crime so serious.”
This was also the defense of Manaois who was arrested on June 2, 2008, in a buy-bust operation conducted by policemen from the Kamuning station in Barangay (village) Roxas, Quezon City, where he sold .02 grams of shabu worth P200 to an undercover policeman.
