Detained colonel moved to Bicutan

Disgraced Marine officer and former drug buster Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino has been transferred from his detention cell at the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG) to a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facility.

Marcelino, former head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Special Enforcement Service, and Chinese Yan Yi Shou were arrested in a dawn raid on a suspected “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) laboratory in Sta. Cruz, Manila, on Jan. 21, which yielded P383-million worth of the illegal drug.

Charges have been filed against the suspects in the Department of Justice (DOJ) for manufacturing and possession of illegal drugs.

Charges of illegal possession of firearms and violation of the gun ban will also be filed against Marcelino, who was carrying a gun with an expired license when he was arrested.

Marcelino insisted he was in a legitimate undercover operation when police raided the shabu laboratory but has yet to present any mission order.

The transfer of Marcelino and Yan was in accordance with a memorandum of agreement between the PDEA and the BJMP, with the latter providing a space for the temporary detention of arrested narcotics suspects, said PNP-AIDG chief Senior Supt. Antonio Gardiola Jr. in a phone interview.

After spending more than a week at the PNP-AIDG detention cell in Camp Crame, Quezon City, the two suspects were transferred yesterday afternoon to the BJMP Quezon City jail annex in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig.