Taiwanese gets life for drugs

MANILA, Philippines - A Taiwanese man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for possession of dangerous drug ketamine hydrochloride, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said yesterday.

Chih Chien Yang, alias Jeff Yang, was convicted after four years of trial, according to PDEA director general Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac Jr.

Judge Danilo Suarez of the Parañaque City Regional Trial Court Branch 259 convicted the Taiwanese for possession of 9.9 kilograms of ketamine hydrochloride.

The court also ordered him to pay a fine of P1 million.

“The prosecution has established its case against the accused with the presentation of the seized evidence,” Cacdac said.

Yang was arrested in April 2008 by operatives of the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force in his house in Multinational Village, Parañaque City.