NBI nabs alleged drug middleman Kenneth Dong

Dong, whose real name is Dong Yi Shen, was nabbed by the NBI’s Anti-organized and Transactional Crime Division (NBI-AOTCD) at 2 p.m. on Monday, February 4, in Katarungan Village, Muntinlupa City. (File Photo by Victor/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Filipino-Chinese Kenneth Dong was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) over his alleged participation in the smuggling of P6.4-billion worth of shabu (crystal meth) shipment from China in May 2017 that slipped past the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Dong, whose real name is Dong Yi Shen, was nabbed by the NBI’s Anti-organized and Transactional Crime Division (NBI-AOTCD) at 2 p.m. on Monday, February 4, in Katarungan Village, Muntinlupa City. This was confirmed by NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin to the media.

Dong was among those who were ordered arrested by the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 46 for violating Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002

Aside from the businessman, other respondents in the warrant of arrest issued by Branch 46 Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa are Li Guang Feng aka Manny Li, Mark Ruben Taguba II, Eirene Mae Tatad, Teejay Marcellana, Chen I-Min, Jhu Ming Jyun, and Chen Rong Huan.

Dong was reported to be the alleged middleman of Richard Tan, who owns the warehouse in Valenzuela City where the drug shipment was found.

Six hundred four kilograms of shabu, hidden in metal cylinders, were seized under the term of former BOC chief Nicanor Faeldon, who is now the director general of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) earlier slapped Dong, along with Taguba, with tax evasion charges for not paying P11.4-million and P850.57-million of taxes, respectively.

Prior to his arrest on Monday, Dong was put behind bars in August 2017 for allegedly raping an “intoxicated” woman in Parañaque City in April 2016.

He, however, was released from jail in November 2017, after Judge Aida Estrella Macapagal of Parañaque RTC Branch 195 junked the rape case lodged against him.