2 men get life sentence for possession of shabu

Two drug pushers were sentenced to life imprisonment after they were found guilty for possession of more than 60 grams of shabu.

Judge Fortunato de Gracia likewise meted Freddie Puesca and Juriel Misterio another two years for possession of drug paraphernalia on top of the life sentence.

Puesca and Misterio were found guilty of the two charges filed against them despite the controversy of their arrest when the supposed buy-bust operation failed.

Members of the Vice Control Section arrested Puesca and Misterio in barangay Luz last November 12, 2002 in a buy-bust gone wrong after the identity of the police officer acting as a poseur-buyer was revealed.

Puesca and Misterio claimed the arrest was illegal because the police did not have a warrant when they were forcibly taken out of their vehicle and arrested for alleged possession of illegal drugs. They insisted that there was no buy-bust operation.

Chief Inspector Marvin Sanchez said the supposed transaction was about to be completed when the suspects found out poseur-buyer PO2 Milo Areola was a policeman and locked themselves inside their car without handing over the illegal drugs.

The two suspects ignored repeated demands of policemen to disembark, prompting policemen to break the windshield of the car.

According to the police, residents in the area started to mill around them, some even started throwing stones at them until reinforcements arrived.

Upon searching the vehicle, police recovered nine plastic packs of shabu weighing a total of 62.88 grams. Aside from shabu, policemen also recovered drug paraphernalia.

The two suspects denied owning the seized items and accused the police of having planted them. However, the court discarded the claims of illegal search and the alleged planting of evidence because the accused failed to present witnesses to support their claims. - Fred P. Languido