News Briefs: Dec. 2, 2018

Narcs checking if seized drugs came from magnetic lifters

Antinarcotic agents arrested on Thursday an alleged drug dealer and seized from him some P1 million worth of “shabu” (crystal meth).

Juvenal Azurin, regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Alladin Kendatu, 38, agreed to sell more than P1 million worth of shabu to an undercover agent.

He was arrested as soon as he handed over the drugs to the agent and took the P1 million.

Azurin said Kendatu, a resident of Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao, had been considered a high-value target.

Azurin said PDEA agents were trying to determine if the drugs seized from Kendatu were part of the shipment that slipped past the Bureau of Customs inside magnetic lifters. —Edwin Fernandez

Candidate for mayor denies role in illegal cigarettes

A former policeman, who is running for mayor in the 2019 elections, on Saturday said he had no part in the operation of an illegal cigarette factory in Bugallon town, Pangasinan province, where untaxed cigarettes worth at least P2 billion were seized on Nov. 28 by a team from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and National Bureau of Investigation.

The team also arrested five Chinese nationals and seized fake internal revenue stamps and several boxes of fake tax stamps and raw materials in simultaneous raids on warehouses in Bugallon and in Mangaldan town.

The BIR mission order identified the team’s subject of operations as “Dong Calugay.”

At a news briefing on Saturday, Liseldo “Dong” Calugay, who retired from the Philippine National Police in 2016, said he did not understand why he was the target of the raids, considering that the property was owned by his brother, Danilo. —Gabriel Cardinoza

Decomposing body found near Sayyaf stronghold

Residents of Isabela City in Basilan province woke up to the foul smell of a decomposing body on Friday. Supt. Gilzen Niño Manese, Isabela police director, said loggers found the body and alerted police. But the human remains were already decomposing, Manese said. The remains were found in Sampinit Complex, known to be a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf leader Furuji Indama. —Julie Alipala

Pimentel: Show Imelda Marcos what fairness is

The son of one of scores of political figures jailed during martial law said the law should be respected if it allowed former first lady Imelda Marcos to post bail despite being convicted of seven counts of graft.

Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, son of former Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., said Imelda’s right to post bail “should be respected.”

“If the Marcoses had been unfair to us, let us be fair to them so they could see that we are having a fair fight unlike their time when there was no level playing field,” said the younger Pimentel.

His father was among scores of opposition leaders jailed by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos during martial law. —Leila B. Salaverria