Japanese charged for marijuana possession

CEBU, Philippines - A Japanese national is facing charges before the court for possession of crushed dried marijuana.

Prosecutor III Ernesto Narido, Jr. of the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office held Takashi Miyakoshi, 29, for trial for violating Section 11, Article 2 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

Miyakoshi is from Nigata, Japan and is temporarily residing at General Maxilom Avenue, Cebu City.

“…the said accused, with deliberate intent, did then and there have in his possession, use and control eight white hand-rolled paper sticks containing crush dried marijuana fruiting tops with a total net weight of 2.04 grams which after examination gave positive for marijuana, a dangerous drug, without being authorized by law,” Narido’s resolution reads.

Narido recommended P200,000 bail for Miyakoshi’s temporary liberty.

Donald Rivera, a member of the Cebu City Traffic Operation Management said he was manning his post at the corner of N. Bacalso Avenue and R. Padilla Street in Barangay Duljo-Fatima about 6:20 a.m. on August 27, 2014 when a man was running toward him.

The man was reportedly being chased by a taxi and Rivera said he suspected that the man may have done something wrong so be blocked him.

“When I was already holding him I noticed that he was holding a rolled lotto ticket which he immediately dropped to the ground when I got hold of him,” Rivera said.

He said that when he opened the piece of rolled lotto ticket, he saw several pieces of hand-rolled cigarette papers, which appear to be like marijuana sticks.

Rivera said that when he “examined closely,” he found out that they were indeed marijuana. As a consequence, he said he arrested the foreigner who was later identified as Miyakoshi.

“Having no knowledge about the procedure of handling drug cases being a traffic enforcer, I immediately brought the suspect to Police Station 11,” he said, adding, that the taxi driver who chased the suspect for not paying the taxi fare followed them to the Police Station but the latter showed no interest in filing charges against the Japanese. (FREEMAN)