For now, only drug use raps vs ex-PBA man Peña, 2 others

Former professional basketball player Dorian Peña (right), along with Jose Paolo Ampeso and his live-in partner Ledy Mea Vilchez, is presented at the National Bureau of Investigation following their arrest on May 9. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Former professional basketball player Dorian Peña has been indicted for using illegal drugs following his arrest with two other people inside an alleged drug den in Mandaluyong City.

The charge, however, carries a light penalty as Peña, being a first-time offender, may end up facing only six months of rehabilitation at a state-run institution.

In a six-page resolution, a two-member panel of prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ) chose to defer the filing of a complaint for violation of Sections 5 and 7 of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, against the retired
Filipino-American basketball player and his two companions.

The provisions refer to the sale of illicit substances and the maintenance of a drug den, respectively.

Condo raid

Peña, who last played for Global Port in the Philippine Basketball Association, was arrested along with Ledy Mea Vilchez and Jose Paolo Ampeso in an entrapment operation conducted by National Bureau of Investigation agents at a condominium building in Merryland Village on May 9.

As part of the booking procedure for individuals arrested during antidrug operations, all three underwent drug testing after the NBI operatives “observed that they manifested signs of being under the influence of dangerous drugs.”

“After the laboratory examination, Peña [tested] positive … for the presence of methamphetamine and its metabolite amphetamine,” read the resolution issued by Assistant State Prosecutors Josie Christina Dugay and Ethel Rea Suril.

Seized from the trio were a plastic sachet containing “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride), marked money amounting to P5,000 and drug paraphernalia.

Dugay and Suril said they decided to defer the resolution of the other charge against Peña since it had yet to be determined if the condominium unit where they were arrested was indeed a drug den.