2 men sentenced 15 years for drugs

Two men who were separately arrested by the police for possession of shabu and marijuana were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment each after being found guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

Regional Trial Court judge Gabriel Ingles yesterday convicted Rusty Baclayon of barangay Ermita and Allan Carredo of barangay Busay and ordered each of them to pay a fine of P300,000.

The policemen arrested Baclayon in Ermita last July 29, 2004 after he was found with two heat-sealed plastic packets of shabu while Carredo was also nabbed by the policemen while he was about to throw a matchbox containing two hand-rolled marijuana cigarettes along Imus Avenue in barangay Day-as.

Records show that Baclayon was arrested during an anti-drug operation in Ermita. Policeman Elmo Rosales, who acted as the poseur-buyer, was inside the house of another suspected drug pusher when Baclayon arrived with shabu prompting lawmen to arrest him.

Ingles said the arrest of Baclayon was lawful despite the absence of an arrest warrant because he was caught in possession of shabu.

Carredo and another man were along Imus Avenue on the afternoon of Christmas Day in 2003 when policemen passed by on board a patrol vehicle.

The companion of Carredo hurriedly ran away after seeing the police, leading lawmen to believe the two had committed a crime.

Carredo's arresting officers claimed that when they approached him, he quickly took something from his pocket and tried to throw it away. But policemen seized it before he could dispose of it and they allegedly found a matchbox containing the marijuana cigarettes.

The court ruled that the circumstances of a companion running away and the attempt of Carredo to throw the matchbox upon realizing the presence of policemen would be sufficient to cause the lawmen to believe that the accused was committing an offense in their presence.

"Thus the arrest of Carredo is valid, though warrantless," Ingles said. - Rene U. Borromeo