Event promoter tagged in concert deaths

MANILA, Philippines – An event promoter who allegedly sold illegal drugs at a 10-hour concert in Pasay City on May 21 was arrested in a drug sting before dawn yesterday.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents from the anti-illegal drug division arrested Joshua Habalo after he sold a tablet of the party drug ecstasy for P1,500 in the House Manila bar, also in Pasay, at around 2 a.m.

They also confiscated five sachets of cocaine, 10 ecstasy tablets and three capsules of a drug cocktail called “fly high” or “green amore” from Habalo.

Habalo had organized a rave party at the bar that started at past midnight yesterday. Four undercover agents went inside and staged the sting.

Habalo, who told the NBI agents he was only a middleman, faces charges for carrying and selling illegal drugs.

Nabbed in 2014

Lawyer Joel Tovera, who heads the anti-illegal drug division, told reporters yesterday Habalo was one of the suspected drug pushers the agency was looking for in connection with the deaths of five people who attended the Closeup Forever Summer concert.

He said the same division arrested Habalo in 2014 for selling green amore capsules that contained only cathinones, also known as “bath salts,” mind-altering substances that are marketed as cheap substitutes for stimulants such as methamphetamine and cocaine.

“But he was not presented for inquest, and no charges were filed against him,” Tovera said, adding that “cathinone is as strong as, or stronger than, ecstasy.”

He said the NBI has filed a petition with the Dangerous Drugs Board to include the green amore drug cocktail, its contents and composition, in the list of drugs prohibited under the Dangerous Drugs Act.

“Public hearing is ongoing,” Tovera said.

Videos, photos

Tovera said some of the videos on Habalo’s mobile phone could strengthen the NBI’s claim that Habalo sold illegal drugs during the concert.

He said Habalo has videos of the concert itself and photos of “small brown envelopes containing drugs that were ready for disposal during the concert.”

Tovera said some “codes,” probably referring to the contents, and the date of the concert were written on the envelopes.

“The said format was also used for the buy-bust operation we did,” he noted.

Tovera also said Habalo named individuals and groups allegedly involved in the sale of illegal drugs during the concert.

Habalo also said many of those he knew had ingested drugs before going to the concert venue while some carried drugs in their pants pockets or in their underwear, according to Tovera.

One of the organizers, Eventscape Manila, said in a statement filed with the NBI on Thursday that 442 security personnel were deployed in and around the concert grounds.

The NBI is expected to release the toxicology report on two of the five people who died after the concert. – With Christian Imperio