PNP: Munti crime lab chief positive for shabu

MANILA, Philippines -  The police official arrested in a drug session in Las Piñas City last week has tested positive for shabu use.

The confirmatory drug testing on Superintendent Lito Cabamongan, 50, who heads the Muntinlupa police’s Crime Laboratory satellite office, yielded positive results, Chief Superintendent Aurelio Trampe, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory, said yesterday.

Trampe said Cabamongan’s urine sample showed traces of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.

“He tested positive for shabu but negative for marijuana,” Trampe told reporters.

Earlier, Trampe said a neuro-psychiatric test conducted by the PNP General Hospital suggested that Cabamongan was suffering from psychosis due to substance abuse.

Cabamongan was arrested along with Nedy Sabdao in a pot session at a house in Talon 4, Las Piñas on March 30.

Sabdao was also found positive for drugs during confirmatory testing.

Trampe said the results of Cabamongan’s drug tests would be submitted to the Internal Affairs Service.

He said Cabamongan would be automatically dismissed from the police service.

According to Trampe, the number of police officers found positive for drug use has reached 216 since the government launched the war on drugs in June last year.

Superintendent Victor Drapete, head of the Crime Laboratory’s chemistry division, said the confirmatory testing proved that Cabamongan was a consistent drug user.