Taguig drug gang members found guilty

A member of the so-called Tiñga drug syndicate was convicted by the Taguig City Regional Trial Court for illegal drug pushing and sentenced to life imprisonment. When arrested in a buy-bust operation in 2012, Elisa “Ely” Tiñga was listed by the police as the third most wanted drug suspect in the city. She and co-accused Andrea Escalante were found guilty of selling P5,000 worth of “shabu” in a Feb. 21 decision by Judge Antonio Olivete of Taguig RTC Branch 267. The two women were also ordered to pay P500,000 in fines. In a separate case, Tiñga, Escalante and Daniel Datinggaling were also convicted of possession of illegal drugs, for which they were sentenced to serve a maximum prison term of 15 years and ordered to pay P300,000 each. The three were arrested in July 2012 on Kalayaan Street, Barangay Ususan.  In September last year, Joel Tiñga, another member of the syndicate, was also sentenced to reclusion perpetua or up to 40 years in prison. —Erika Sauler