Ex-NBI official pleads not guilty on illegal drug charges

The former acting regional director of NBI-Central Mindanao Regional Office (NBI-CEMRO) who is facing a case of conspiracy to manufacture illegal drugs, following the discovery of the mega shabu laboratory in 2016, pleaded not guilty on Monday.

Atty. Augusto Eric Isidoro has been detained at the Makati City Jail since last September following the order of the Makati City Regional Trial Court.

The mega shabu laboratory was discovered by authorities in 2016. They seized over P100-million worth of shabu and ephedrine. The property where the shabu laboratory was located in Virac, Catanduanes was allegedly owned by a certain Sarah Sarmiento. It was leased by Angelica Balmadrid, who is allegedly the common-law wife of Isidoro.

Isidoro is specifically facing case of conspiracy to manufacture illegal drugs along with four other accused who remain at large: Xian Xian Wang, Pido Bonito, Paolo Uy, and Jayson Uy.

The other arrested accused, Lorenzo Piñera II, will stand trial for cases of possession and manufacture of illegal drugs along with five other accused who are also still at large: the Uys, Paolo Palisoc, Phung Yuan Estorco, and Sheng Wang.

Of the accused, only Isidoro and Piñera have been arrested so far and detained at the city jail, according to Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera, head of the DOJ Task Force on Illegal Drugs Cases. /je