Section 21 of Republic Act No.

9165 provides the procedure to be followed

in the seizure and custody of prohibited drugs, to wit:

Section 21. Custody and Disposition of Confiscated, Seized, and/or
Surrendered Dangerous Drugs, Plant Sources of Dangerous Drugs,
Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals,
Instruments/Paraphernalia and/or Laboratory Equipment. The PDEA shall
take charge and have custody of all dangerous drugs, plant sources of
dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals, as well
as instruments/paraphernalia and/or laboratory equipment so confiscated,
seized and/or surrendered, for proper disposition in the following manner:
(1) The apprehending team having initial custody and control of the drugs

shall, immediately after seizure and confiscation, physically inventory and

photograph the same in the presence of the accused or the person/s from
whom such items were confiscated and/or seized, or his/her
representative or counsel, a representative from the media and the
Department of Justice (DOJ), and any elected public official who shall be
required to sign the copies of the inventory and be given a copy thereof;
xxx

EXCEPTION:
Provided, further that non-compliance

with these requirements under

justifiable grounds, as long as the
integrity and the evidentiary value
of the seized items are properly
preserved by the apprehending
officer/team, shall not render void and
invalid such seizures of and custody
over said items;

Chain

of Custody means the duly recorded

authorized movements and custody of seized
drugs or controlled chemicals or plant sources of
dangerous drugs or laboratory equipment of each
stage, from the time of seizure/confiscation to
receipt in the forensic laboratory to safekeeping to
presentation in court for destruction. Such record
of movements and custody of seized item shall
include the identity and signature of the person
who held temporary custody of the seized item,
the date and time when such transfer of custody
were made in the course of safekeeping and use
in court as evidence, and the final disposition;

Take Note:
The marking immediately after seizure is the
starting point in the custodial link, because
succeeding handlers of the prohibited drugs
or related items will use the markings as
reference. It further serves to segregate the
marked evidence from the corpus of all other
similar and related evidence from the time they
are seized from the accused until they are
disposed of at the end of the criminal
proceedings, obviating switching, planting,
or contamination of evidence.

Related Case
In a prosecution of the sale and possession of

methamphetamine hydrochloride prohibited under Republic

Act No. 9165, the State not only carries the heavy burden of
proving the elements of the offense of, but also bears the
obligation to prove the corpus delicti, failing in which the
State will not discharge its basic duty of proving the guilt of
the accused beyond reasonable doubt. It is settled that the
State does not establish the corpus delicti when the prohibited
substance subject of the prosecution is missing or when
substantial gaps in the chain of custody of the prohibited
substance raise grave doubts about the authenticity of the
prohibited substance presented as evidence in court. Any gap
renders the case for the State less than complete in terms of
proving the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

 [1] A police team arrested Nicolas Gutierrez during a buy-bust operation on June 16, 2003 in Pasig City. The

team allegedly seized from Gutierrez five centigrams of methylamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) and
drug paraphernalia.
Gutierrez was charged under R.A. 9165 with illegal sale of shabu and illegal possession of paraphernalia.
[2] Gutierrez pleaded not guilty during his arraignment. He claimed that he was merely having dinner with

his family when four unidentified armed men barged into his house and arrested him.
[3] During the pre-trial, Gutierrezs lawyer stipulated that:
a. the specimen (alleged shabu) exists,
b. the arresting officers requested for its examination,
c. a forensic chemist examined the specimen, and
d. it tested positive for methyl amphetamine hydrochloride.
[4] During the hearing, the fiscal presented some of the police officers who arrested Gutierrez. The officers

identified the buy-bust money paid to Gutierrez and the shabu bought from him. PO1 Espares testified on the
marking and eventual turnover of the seized sachet of alleged shabu to the investigator.
[5] The Pasig City Regional Trial Court found Gutierrez guilty of the illegal sale of shabu. But the RTC

acquitted him of the charge of illegal possession of paraphernalia.

Gutierrez questioned the RTCs ruling before the Court of Appeals. The CA affirmed the RTCs decision.

Gutierrez then brought his case up to the Supreme Court.

 ISSUE:
The prosecution failed to show what happened to

the shabu from the time the arresting officers gave

it to the investigator up to its turnover for
laboratory examination. The case records also do
not show what happened to the shabu between its
turnover by the chemist to the investigator and its
presentation in court.
Since the prosecution failed to prove that the
shabu allegedly seized from Gutierrez was the
same shabu presented in court, should
Gutierrez be acquitted?

 Supreme Court ruling:

Gutierrez should be acquitted because the prosecution failed to show an

unbroken chain of custody of the alleged shabu.

Under Section 5, Article II of R.A. No. 9165, the elements necessary in a

prosecution for the illegal sale of shabu are:

the identity of the buyer and the seller;
the object and the consideration; and
the delivery of the thing sold and the payment for it.
The prosecution must prove that the sale of shabu took place. The corpus
delicti the body or substance of the crime which establishes the fact that
acrime has actually been committedmust also be presented in court. In
cases involving narcotics, the illegal drug itself constitutes the corpus
delicti of the offense. The existence of the illegal drug is vital for the court
to find the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt. The chain of custody
rule ensures that unnecessary doubts on the identity of the evidence are
removed.