Wednesday, April 23, 2008 PDEA 7 nabs 2 ship apprentices for ‘carrying’ 50 grams of shabu
AFTER catching a minor exactly a week ago for bringing drugs from Ozamiz City, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 agents yesterday collared two ship apprentices who allegedly had with them 50 grams of suspected shabu from the same Mindanao city.
Rochelle Manghuyop, 21, and Mark Anthony Martinez are apprentices of mv Butuan Bay, which the 16-year-old minor also boarded from Ozamiz to Mandaue City in delivering 25 grams of shabu.
This led the PDEA to believe that the minor, Maghuyop and Martinez got the drugs from the same source.
Sideline jobs
Maghuyop and Martinez said they were not aware that inside the well-sealed six- by four-inch multi-vitamins carton pack was illegal drugs.
This prompted the PDEA to warn all ship crew doing “sideline jobs” to determine first the contents before accepting packages for delivery.
PDEA 7 official Rayford Yap said Maghuyop and Martinez will be charged for possessing the illegal drugs, which has an estimated market value of P600,000.
A certain Christopher Berdon, who eluded arrest, will be included as respondent in the criminal complaint, said Yap.
The two appretices said that somebody, whom they failed to identify, handed the pack to them at the Ozamiz port Monday night.
Motorcycle
They were paid P500 and told that someone will call them when they reach Mandaue to pick the item.
When they arrived at 8 a.m. yesterday, Berdon called and told them to bring the item in front of a school along Plaridel St.
Berdon, Yap said, made a separate call to his supposed buyer, not knowing that it was a PDEA agent.
Yap said Martinez and Manghuyop arrived in a taxi; Berdon also came on his motorcycle but kept his distance.
PDEA agents immediately arrested Maghuyop and Martinez after they disembarked and handed over the small package.
Seeing what happened, Berdon immediately sped away.
Receiving no salary for their apprenticeship, Maghuyop and Martinez admitted to doing courier service to anyone who approaches them in Ozamiz.
Certificates
They said they get a fee bringing copies of birth certificates and small packages to Cebu.
Yap said that after the minor’s arrest last week, the drug syndicate apparently shifted to using the likes of Maghuyop and Martinez. (OCP)
