LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — Anti-drug agents arrested a 65-year-old lawyer for bringing PHP50-worth of dried marijuana leaves while checking in at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport on Friday.
Jojit Tubali, team leader of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 (Central Visayas), identified the lawyer as Caesar Antonio Tabotabo, a resident of Guadalupe village in this city.
Tabotabo subjected himself to initial screening conducted by the Office of the Transportation Security (OTS) upon arriving at the airport, Tubali said. The lawyer was bound for Manila.
OTS personnel discovered the dried marijuana leaves inside a cigarette pack when he was frisked after the alarm system rang.
“They were conducting screening checkpoint, the lawyer passed when the alarm sounded and he showed his cigarette pack. When the OTS personnel requested him to open the pack, he resisted. What he did was, he put the cigarette pack on the table and it was the OTS people who checked what was inside and they found marijuana,” Tubali said in Filipino.
The OTS personnel called up PDEA-7 and the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office for assistance. The PDEA-7 held Tabotabo.
The dried marijuana leaves were valued by the Dangerous Drugs Board at PHP50, Tubali said, adding that the lawyer will be charged with violation of Section 11, Article II of Republic Act 9165 that penalizes the possession of illegal drugs. -PNA
