NAIA clerk, Leyte pol caught with P25-million cocaine

MANILA, Philippines -  A Bureau of Customs clerk and his live-in partner, a defeated mayoralty candidate in Leyte province, were arrested at a Quezon City hotel at past midnight yesterday for allegedly selling five bricks of cocaine with a street value of P25 million.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency operatives “have been monitoring” the activities of Jessie Abuyong, a BOC clerk assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1; and Maria Lorejas, who ran for mayor of Mahaplang town in Leyte in May 2010, PDEA-Metro Manila Regional Office chief Wilkins Villanueva told The STAR.

“We did some test buys until we were able to make them sell us five kilos,” he said.

Villanueva said Abuyong and Lorejas, both natives of Kawit, Cavite, face charges of selling, trafficking and possession of large amounts of illegal drugs, a non-bailable offense punishable with life imprisonment.

“This operation was carried out in compliance with PDEA director general Jose Villanueva’s marching orders for us to hit hard on high-profile and high-impact targets,” he said.

Villanueva said Abuyong admitted that the cocaine seized from him had been part of a shipment of cocaine supposedly dumped in the waters off Samar by a Chinese fishing vessel that passed through the country in December 2009.