DOJ reopens 2020 slay of Spanish bizman in Siargao

By Rey E. Requejo

THE Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday said the three-yearold slaying of Spanish businessman Diego Bello Lafuente in Siargao Island has been revived after the policemen tagged for complicity in the case turned themselves in on Feb. 9.

The three suspects were escorted by Criminal Investigation and Detection

Group chief Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr. when they surrendered to the DOJ. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said he asked for an account of the events from the policemen during a brief meeting.

The DOJ chief also explained the framework within which the case will be tried.

“I can’t promise anything except a fair trial,” Remulla said.

In Brief

BOC foils bid to smuggle

P6.2-m

cocaine in Clark

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) has seized 1,187.1 grams of cocaine worth more than P6.2 million stashed inside the rims of three wheelchairs at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga. The contraband was discovered in a shipment declared as “mini -sumatic wheelchair caster,” which arrived on January 13 from Tanzania.

The shipment was subjected to the usual K9 sniffing and x-ray scanning procedures and physical examination based on information from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

The examinations disclosed that the three wheelchair casters were filled with a white powdery substance inside the wheels.

“Samples were taken to the PDEA for chemical laboratory analysis, and the shipment yielded positive for cocaine, a dangerous drug under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002,” the BOC said in a statement. Vito Barcelo

Immigration agents nab

4 South Korean fugitives

IMMIGRATION Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the aliens were arrested in separate operations conducted by the BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU) in Metro Manila and in Pampanga.

“The prosecutor’s decision depends on the evidence,” he added. Lafuente, an alleged drug dealer, was killed in 2020 during an anti-drug operation in Siargao.

The suspects, whose identities were not immediately disclosed, claimed that Lafuente pulled a gun on them. Lafuente’s case was stalled when the policemen involved disappeared after the court issued warrants of arrest against them.

“We are in the midst of an intensified campaign to flush out these wanted foreigners who are using the country as a refuge to elude arrest and prosecution for crimes they committed in their homeland,” Tansingco said. According to the BI chief, all four South Koreans will be deported for being undesirable and undocumented aliens, adding that their passports were already revoked by their government. “They will also be placed in our blacklist, thus banning them from reentering the country,” he said. Vito Barcelo