Ex-mayor refuses to enter plea on shabu raps

Suspended Panukulan, Quezon mayor Ronnie Mitra refused to enter any plea when arraigned before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court yesterday over charges that he attempted to transport some 503 kilos of shabu to Manila last October.

Judge Agustin Dizon of RTC Branch 70 entered a not guilty plea on Mitra’s behalf. The three other accused - Chinese national Willy Young, security aide Ruel Dequila and driver Javier Morilla - pleaded not guilty.

Dizon scheduled the pre-trial on May 20.

The four were arrested in Real, Quezon last Oct. 13 while transporting, aboard a government-issued ambulance, the shabu valued at about P1 billion.

Police described the shabu haul as one of the biggest in the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign.

Authorities believe the shabu, some packed in one-kilo sachets, was reportedly intended for buyers in Europe and the United States.

The Philippines, due to its strategic location, is increasingly being used by drug syndicates from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong as a transshipment point for illegal drugs.

Following his arrest, the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed Mitra from government service, forfeited all his benefits, canceled his eligibility and disqualified him from office.

Authorities say about 1.8 million Filipinos are hooked on illegal drugs. — Romel Bagares