PDEA agent nabbed at checkpoint

CEBU, Philippines - A confidential agent of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-7 ended up behind bars after he was arrested for illegal possession of firearms during a checkpoint where he figured in a verbal tussle with a traffic enforcer yesterday morning on Osmeña Boulevard, Cebu City.

Jezer Setosa Banzon, 29, of Minglanilla town, was apprehended by Givenchy Flores of the City Traffic Operations and Management and was taken to the Cebu City Police Office after he yielded an unlicensed .45 caliber pistol.

Banzon was driving a motorcycle past 10 a.m. on his way to fetch his child in school when Flores stopped him for a checkpoint in the city’s downtown area. Flores let him go after he presented his identification card as a PDEA-7 agent.

However, the traffic enforcer again called Banzon’s attention after he noticed that the latter’s motorcycle has no side mirror.

The two allegedly engaged in a verbal tussle when Flores asked Banzon for his driver’s license to which latter responded by showing his identification as PDEA agent. Flores then frisked him and recovered a .45 caliber pistol with no license and permit to carry outside the residence.

Banzon showed Flores his letter order bearing the signature of PDEA-7 assistant director Randy Pedroso which is set to expire on January 15, but the traffic enforcer still took him to the Investigation and Detective Management Branch of CCPO.

Flores, in an interview with reporters yesterday, said that Banzon identified himself to him as a policeman and allegedly challenged him to a fistfight, an allegation that was strongly denied by the latter. — Niña G. Sumacot/WAB   (FREEMAN NEWS)