The Court of Appeals (CA) of the Philippines has ordered the release of a Chinese national previously convicted of selling and possessing more than 90 kilograms of shabu after finding deficiencies in how authorities handled the drug evidence.
In a 30-page ruling released on February 27, the appellate court’s First Division granted the appeal of Xu Zhou, also known as Wang, reversing the earlier decision of Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 210 that had sentenced him to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of up to P800,000.
The appellate court directed the Bureau of Corrections to release Xu from imprisonment unless he is being held for another lawful cause.
Court records showed that Xu allegedly sold P230,000 worth of shabu during a buy-bust operation conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency at his residence in July 2021.
The CA said it agreed with the trial court that a valid buy-bust operation took place and that Xu’s objections to the case came too late after he had already entered a plea of not guilty during arraignment.
However, the appellate court ruled that the prosecution failed to establish an unbroken chain of custody for the seized illegal drugs.
“A revisit to the record of this case reveals that there was no information on how the seized illegal items were handled or stored from the time these were turned over to the forensic chemist, up until their presentation in court,” the ruling stated.
The court noted that records lacked details on whether the drugs were properly sealed and intact upon receipt, how the specimens were analyzed, or how they were released and marked for court presentation.
It also pointed out that the identity of the evidence custodian was not disclosed.
Associate Justice Eduardo Ramos Jr., who penned the decision, said the prosecution’s failure to prove the integrity of the seized drugs created reasonable doubt about whether the evidence presented in court was the same as those recovered during the operation.
The ruling said the lapses “undoubtedly compromise the identity, integrity and evidentiary value of the corpus delicti of the offenses charged.”
The decision was concurred in by Fernanda Lampas Peralta and Associate Justice Perpetua Susana Atal-Paño.