Tarlac cop involved in illegal drug trade

ANGELES CITY, Philippines – A police officer formerly assigned to the intelligence unit of the Paniqui, Tarlac police was high on drugs and his car carried shabu worth P438,000 when he was arrested in Gerona town last Friday, authorities said.

The Tarlac police yesterday released findings by the police crime laboratory confirming that PO3 Emerson Garcia was high on drugs and that the crystalline substance in two plastic bags and weighing 13.137 grams found in his Hyundai car was indeed shabu.

Garcia was collared after a certain Margarette Tapang, during police interrogation after her arrest in a drug sting, tagged him and one Dennis Navarro as her shabu suppliers. Police pounced on Garcia and Navarro as they waited for Tapang in a restaurant.

Inspector Carlito Grijaldo, Garcia’s immediate superior in the Paniqui police, said the erring policeman was immediately suspended after his arrest.

Grijaldo said Garcia, along with another Paniqui police officer, was found positive for illegal drug use in random testing last June 10, which led to his relief as an intelligence agent.

Three other Paniqui policemen have been relieved of their posts pending investigation that they were also involved in Garcia’s illegal drug trade.