Alleged middleman in P6.4-b drug shipment arrested in connection with rape case after Senate hearing

Senator Francis Pangilinan and Kenneth Dong at the 1st International Agriculture and Tourism Expo held in the World Trade Center in Pasay on June 30, 2011. /courtesy of PNA/

(Eagle News) — National Bureau of Investigation agents arrested the alleged middleman in the P6.4-billion drug shipment that entered the country in May after the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on Tuesday.

NBI deputy director Ferdinand Lavin said in an ambush interview that Kenneth Dong was arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest issued by the Paranaque regional trial court in connection with a case of rape he is facing.

In a press conference, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said Paranaque Deputy City Prosecutor Napoleon Ramolete recommended the filing of the information against Dong on June 20, 2016.

“We did a background check on him,” Lavin said.

He said Dong would be “processed” and would be subsequently detained at the NBI headquarters in Manila.

On Monday, the NBI also filed complaints against Dong for his alleged role in the entry of the P6.4-billion drug shipment into the country on May 26, and his alleged violation of the Customs Broker Act of 2004.

(Meanne Corvera, Eagle News Service)