11 frat, sorority members caught in pot session

MANILA, Philippines - Eight members of a fraternity and three sorority members were arrested by the police reportedly while having a pot session as part of their initiation and anniversary celebration in Sampaloc, Manila over the weekend.

In a press conference yesterday, Sampaloc police station chief Superintendent Ramon Pranada said the suspects, all members of the Alpha Zigma Omicron fraternity and sorority, are facing charges of possession and use of illegal drugs and paraphernalia.

Pranada said he received a call from a concerned resident Saturday midnight of an ongoing drinking and pot session among a group of youngsters right in the street of Miguelin.

Acting on the tip, Pranada tasked the station’s anti-illegal drugs chief Inspector Anthony Sy to send undercover policemen to the area to verify the information.

Arriving at the alluded place, Sy said he and his men observed and witnessed youths around two tables drinking in the middle of the street and swaying to loud music. Police also saw the lighting and passing of several “roaches” or marijuana joints among the youths.

Police recovered two heat-sealed plastic sachets containing suspected dried marijuana leaves, three opened sachets with traces of marijuana residue and an improvised pipe filter. The police crime laboratory tested and confirmed that the seized evidence were indeed dried marijuana leaves, according to Sy.             – Nestor Etolle