MANILA -- The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday presented to newsmen the third Chinese fugitive tagged in the smuggling of 604 kg. of shabu, recovered from a Valenzuela City warehouse two years ago.
Kenneth Dong, with aliases Dong Yi Shen and Yi Shand Dong, was presented to the media three days after he was arrested while visiting a friend in Katarungan Village, Muntinlupa City.
NBI agents said Dong attempted to change his appearance with color highlights on his long hair, which was also different from how he looked with a cropped hair when he was last seen in public.
Speaking to newsmen, Dong said he had been going around Luzon in the two years he was hiding, adding he originally planned to surrender to authorities on Chinese New Year's Day before he was arrested by operatives of the NBI Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division (NBI-AOTCD) last Monday.
NBI-AOTCD chief Joel Tovera said they were still verifying the identities of persons who helped Dong evade law enforcers.
"They may be held liable for obstruction of justice," Tovera said.
Dong was the subject of an outstanding warrant of arrest issued by the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 on Feb. 12, 2018.
"Of course, I will cooperate," Dong said when asked whether he plans to work with law enforcement authorities who are still after six persons implicated in the case -- Richard Tan; Li Guang Feng, alias Manny Li; Tee Jay Marcellana; Chen I-Min; Jhu Ming Jhun; and Chen Rong Juan.
Dong was the third to be arrested in the controversy after customs broker Mark Ruben Taguba, who was arrested last Jan. 31, 2018, and Eirene Mae Tatad.
Taguba named Dong as the "middleman" of Tan's company in China, Hong Fei, which shipped the shabu to Manila. (With Francesca Fajardo, OJT/PNA)
