Bombshell claims link Philippines’ Duterte clan to massive meth smuggling scheme

A convicted trafficker’s explosive testimony has implicated the former first family in the very narcotics trade they vowed to eradicate

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Then-President Rodrigo Duterte gives directives to Philippine police officers regarding his “war on drugs” in 2016. Photo: Jeoffrey Maitem

Published: 7:00pm, 24 Aug 2024

Wearing a bulletproof vest over his orange prison uniform, a convicted drug trafficker made a bombshell allegation last week that has sent shock waves through the Philippines. In testimony before a congressional committee, Jimmy Guban implicated family members and allies of Rodrigo Duterte in a major drug-smuggling operation, casting further doubt on the legitimacy of the former president’s vaunted “war on drugs”.

Guban, a former customs intelligence officer with 17 years of experience, told lawmakers that Congressman Paolo Duterte; lawyer Manases Carpio, husband of Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio; and Chinese businessman and economic adviser Michael Yang owned the massive magnetic lifters used to secretly transport hundreds of kilograms of crystal meth, or “shabu”, into the country in 2018.

The scandal first erupted when several of these steel-plated lifters arrived in Manila from Vietnam, later found to be packed with at least 1.68 tonnes of shabu worth billions of pesos. Law enforcement seized two of the lifters containing 355kg of drugs, but missed four others containing a staggering 1.68 tonnes – worth 11 billion pesos (US$195 million) – that flooded the market, causing street prices to plummet.

In 2018, Guban had named a different suspect, police officer Eduardo Acierto, before the Senate. But now, appearing before a newly formed congressional “super committee”, he claimed he had received death threats and was pressured to falsely implicate Acierto, describing himself as the victim of a “grand conspiracy to clean the name of the First Family [the Dutertes] and Michael Yang”.

Jimmy Guba testifies during the August 16 hearing of the “quad committee” in the Philippines. Photo: Handout

Recanting his previous Senate testimony, Guban at the August 16 hearing asked to be placed in a witness protection programme. He named additional alleged members of the syndicate, including Davao City councillor Nilo Abillera Jnr, who he said represented Yang and Carpio, as well as journalists Paul Gutierrez and Benny Antiporda. Guban identified Gutierrez, speaking on behalf of Antiporda, as one of the individuals who had threatened to kill him and kidnap his child.