Cagayan Valley PNP arrest student, driver over 111 kilos of marijuana
A 21-YEAR-OLD student and his driver-pal were hauled to jail by Nueva Viscaya policemen after they were found to be carrying 111 kilograms of dried marijuana leaves valued at P13.320 million in Aritao municipality on Saturday afternoon, Police Regional Office 2 director Brig. Gen. Antonio P. Marallag Jr. said yesterday.
Young student Mark Ivan Ventura, a resident of Poblacion Sur in Mayantoc, Tarlac, and tricycle driver Jan Paulo Navarro, a 24-year-old resident of Commonwealth, Quezon City, are now being held at the Aritao Municipal Police Station Jail, said the official.
A third suspect with the alias “Yas” is still being hunted as of press time.
All three accused will be facing non-bailable criminal charges for transport and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
According to Marallag, the suspects were in a gray Mitsubishi Expander with conduction sticker GL 562A when they accidentally hit a concrete barrier on the highway in Purok 4, Bgy. Bone South in Aritao around 3 p.m. Saturday.
Shortly after the vehicle rammed the concrete barrier, the suspects, who were acting suspiciously, immediately alighted and started unloading sacks containing unknown items from their damaged vehicle.
However, Aritao policemen who were alerted of the road crash immediately rushed to the site, where they discovered that the vehicle involved was loaded with the huge volume of marijuana, prompting them to make the arrest and the drug seizure.
The suspects’ vehicle was impounded by the local police.
The value of the 111 pieces of dried marijuana bricks, each brick weighing a kilo, was placed at P13,320,000, with a kilo of cannabis costing P120,000 each, according to the Dangerous Drugs Board.
Both suspects and the recovered marijuana bricks were brought to the Aritao Police Station for proper disposition.
