Sunday, May 18, 2008 Drug 'dealer' arrest stuns cops By Annabelle L. Ricalde
AGENTS of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Northern Mindanao were taken by surprise when they arrested a man they thought had been languishing in jail for drug charges.
Arrested for the second time was 30-year-old William Uyguangco, married and said to be the nephew of the mayor in the Misamis Oriental town of Medina.
Recovered from his possession was a small pack of what was believed to be methamphetamine hydrochloride -- popularly known as shabu -- during a buy-bust operation last Tuesday afternoon at Justo Ramonal Street, Cagayan de Oro City.
But Uyguangco, who tried to elude arrest, wasn't supposed to be roaming free about town.
Police Superintendent Oliver Enmodia, PDEA-Northern Mindanao acting regional director, said the suspect had been arrested of illegal drug trafficking last February 2007 and was jailed at Lumbia City Jail. Enmodia, who was not yet with PDEA that time, did not elaborate.
But according to a PDEA agent who is familiar to the case, the quantity of illegal drugs confiscated from Uyguangco in the first arrest had reached the "no bail bond" limit provided in the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The PDEA agent, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said Uyguangco's previous case had been "downgraded" from illegal drug pushing to a mere "possession."
The disclosure draws new attention to the local anti-drug agency's unflattering past.
Rene Orbe, a former PDEA-Northern Mindanao director, was booted out of office two years ago in the heat of allegations that he was cuddling PDEA agents accused of extortion, evidence-planting, case-downgrading and other irregularities in the agency.
Orbe was further thrown to spotlight after he accused "influential men" in the city, including a prominent politician-of seeking to "negotiate" for the release of their friends and relatives arrested for drug charges.
