NBI accused of extortion by arrested anti-narc cop

PO2 Jolly Aliangan was caught keeping a stash of “shabu,” P7 million in cash, several firearms,
and fake vehicle license plates when NBI agents raided his Manila residence. Photos by EDWIN BACASMAS

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has been accused of extortion and planting of evidence by an anti-narcotics officer it arrested last week for his alleged involvement in illegal drugs trade.

In his counter-affidavit submitted before the Department of Justice (DOJ) Monday, Police Officer 2 Jolly Aliangan said agents from the NBI asked him to give them P6.9 million so that the case against him and his wife, Rosalie, would be dropped.

“I was asked by the alleged NBI agents to give them the P6.9 million and they will lift my case and will not implead my wife, Rosalie,” Aliangan said in his affidavit.

Aliangan and his wife were arrested by NBI operatives last week.

The NBI seized an undetermined quantity of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu), P6.9 million cash, and high powered firearms in a raid conducted at his posh three-story house in Manila.

READ: Cop keeps P7M, ‘shabu’ in home fit for general

The couple, together with a certain Jeffrey Flores Gutierrez, is facing complaints for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, Illegal Possession of Firearms and Ammunition and Obstruction of Justice.

Aliangan said the NBI agents forced their way inside their house without presenting a search warrant.

Last May 25, around 5:30 a.m., when he was about to leave his house, Aliangan said a man approached him and introduced themselves as NBI agents.

“I asked them what they want from me when all of a sudden, one man forcefully grabbed me from behind and handcuffed my hands, and then dragged me to the gate of my house, demanding I open the same. As I do not have the key, I asked my nephew Jeffrey Gutierrez to open the said gate from inside. No search warrant was presented to me contrary to the statement of the complainants,” Aliangan said.

He said the NBI kept asking him about the illegal drugs. He said the agents ransacked his house including his bedroom where the vault containing P6.9 million worth of cash and jewelries are stashed.

Aliangan said the NBI accused his wife of flushing shabu down the toilet, which his wife denied in a separate counter-affidavit submitted to the DOJ.

Rosalie said she was at the bathroom to relieve herself as an effect of the tea she was drinking every evening.

But NBI agents said they found traces of shabu on the bathroom floor.

“They even asked me how many kilos of the alleged shabu did I flush from the toilet. I was so confused then of what was being asked from me since I did not do such act,” she said.

The police officer said he and his wife were dragged out of their room for a few minutes. When they returned to the bedroom, they saw members of the media inside taking photos and videos of discovered illegal drugs.

The drugs, Aliangan said, “were truthfully not there when they initially searched our bedroom.”

Aliangan said the NBI also insisted on opening the vault inside the bedroom. He said he refused because it was his mother’s (Maria Lapuz’) vault where she puts her earnings from selling jewelries.

The NBI insisted on calling Lapuz to open the vault. When she arrived, Rosalie said Lapuz fainted when she learned what happened.

Aliangan, on the other hand, said the NBI forced open the vault and confiscated its contents.

He demanded that the P6.9 million be returned to his mother.

Aside from the lack of search warrant, Aliangan also questioned why his Mitsubishi Montero was listed in the Joint Affidavit of Arrest but not included in the inventory of seized articles.

READ: Bank accounts of ‘shabu-recycling’ policeman must be frozen, says NBI

The couple insisted before the DOJ that the case against them should be dismissed.

The NBI opted not to respond to the counter-affidavit.

The DOJ prosecutors submitted the case for resolution. JE/rga