June 4
PHILIPPINES:
Cuadra faces death penalty
Known "drug lord" of Bacolod City Jose Kim "Boy" Cuadra may find himself
in death row at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa if and when he will
be convicted with the latest charges filed against him by the Regional
Prosecutor's Office here.
Cuadra, who was earlier charged of illegal possession of prohibited drugs
following his arrest in Caticlan Airport in Aklan last year, is now facing
more serious charges of illegal transporting of prohibited drugs.
The case revival has been endorsed by Regional Prosecutor Garcia before
the Regional Trial Court here.
Cuadra, however, filed a petition before the Court of Appeals to nullify
such revival, since the illegal possession charges is still being heard at
Kalibo, Aklan, disclosed Police Supt. Lazaro Torcita, director of the
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Regional Office 6.
He also said Cuadra may be faced with difficulties in appealing the case,
since the fiscal's office in the region has a very strong evidence from
the Security Aviation Group of Aklan.
Illegal transporting of drugs, Torcita explained, based on the
Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, has an equivalent penalty of
death.
Illegal possession, meanwhile, although non-bailable, has a maximum
penalty of only life imprisonment.
Cuadra and a certain Morales were apprehended at the Caticlan Airport
sometime in April last year by the ASG operatives of Aklan while they were
about to board a private plane going to Bacolod City.
Recovered from their possession were 12.13 grams of suspected shabu.
Cuadra was said to be frequently in Boracay Island prior to his arrest
allegedly delivering drugs to most of his foreign clients.
They are now detained at the Aklan Provincial Jail in Barangay Lo-oc,
Kalibo.
Morales was charged of illegal possession of drug paraphernalia.
The case is bailable, but Morales refused to post bail as he wanted to be
with Cuadra no matter what happens, said Torcita.
Dwindling shabu, rising marijuana
With the arrest of Cuadra, Torcita said that shabu business in Bacolod
continues to drop.
He also added that with the aggressive campaign of PDEA nationwide to shut
down shabu laboratories in Manila and in some parts of Luzon, supplies of
shabu throughout the country have dwindled.
The dwindling, Torcita said, caused most of Cuadra's "assets" in Bacolod
to quit peddling shabu.
However, the marijuana business in the Western Visayas is now on the rise,
revealed Torcita.
He also disclosed that selling of marijuana is now rampant, not only in
Negros, but also in Guimaras and Panay Island.
"We have apprehensions on possession of marijuana almost every month in
the region since January," added Torcita.
He said the latest they had was in Balasan, Iloilo Thursday night, which
led to the confiscation of at least 125 grams of dried leaves of
marijuana--some were packed in 24 sachets and some came in bricks.
Torcita said that based on intelligence monitoring, most of the drug
peddlers in Western Visayas now opt to sell marijuana since they find it
more saleable compared to shabu, at only P100 per sachet, which is enough
to make at least 10 cigarettes sticks if extracted.
Each stick of marijuana cigarette costs P10 to P15 each, he further
disclosed.
Lead agency
Torcita said PDEA is now the lead agency in drug operation, apprehension
and filing of charges.
He said anti-drug operations have been taken out from the police and
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and instead delegated fully to
PDEA.
The police and NBI could only assist PDEA in certain operations.
PDEA is now under the Office of the President with Undersecretary Anselmo
Avenido as director general.
Meanwhile, based on the latest drug statistics reports in Western Visayas,
Negros Occidental has 68 out of 800 barangays still considered seriously
affected, with 4 seriously-affected barangays out of 61 in Bacolod City.
The survey started June 2003 and is ongoing, revealed Torcita.
(source: Sun Star)
