Drugs land man in jail for life; 3 more face 14-year prison terms

Four drug suspects, two of them women, have been convicted by the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) due to the “diligence and perseverance” of the city’s police and antidrugs operatives.

One of the drug offenders identified as Jose Torio Presnede was sentenced last month to life imprisonment for the sale and possession of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” in violation of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

In a report, Supt. Jaime Santos, operations chief of the Makati Anti-Drug Abuse Council (Madac), said Judge Josephine Advento-Vito Cruz of the Makati RTC Branch 135 sentenced Presnede to life imprisonment and ordered him to pay a fine of P500,000.

The convicted man was apprehended in a buy-bust operation conducted by Madac and police operatives on March 12, 2012, in Barangay  (village) Tejeros, Makati.

He was caught selling 0.02 grams of shabu to a poseur-buyer while another 0.03 grams were found in his possession.

On top of life imprisonment, Presnede was slapped an additional prison term of up to 15 years for drug possession.

The same offense, on the other hand, also led to the conviction of the three other offenders —a man and two women—who were all sentenced to a minimum of 12 years and one day to a maximum of 14 years and eight months.

Gary Garces Garcia, who was also found guilty and sentenced by Judge Vito Cruz, was apprehended by PO2 Glenn Gonzalvo of the Makati police in Barangay Kasilawan, Makati, after he was spotted receiving a small plastic sachet from another person.

The two women, Arlene Cumpa and Mary Grace Manuel, were arrested after they underwent a routine body search at Makati City Jail.

Cumpa was about to visit her live-in partner when JO3 Evamarie Tenedora caught her with three small packets of shabu hidden in the sanitary napkin she was wearing. Her case was also heard and decided by Judge Vito Cruz.

Manuel, on the other hand,  was found with a plastic sachet of dried marijuana leaves in the pocket of her jeans.