Woman falls from bike, yields 28 shabu packs

CEBU, Philippines - She hurt herself after falling from a motorcycle she was riding.  And as if fate was mocking her, she now faces the prospect of spending several years behind bars after the accident.

This was after several packs of suspected shabu that she was carrying fell to the ground and were discovered by policemen who supposedly just came to her rescue.

Gina Sasan, 49, a resident of Sugarland, Bacayan, Cebu City yielded eight medium packs and 20 smallpacks of white crystalline substance believed to be shabu.

The police said Sasan, who was riding pillion, and a man was on a motorcycle on A. Lopez Street in Barangay Calamba when they noticed a San Nicolas police team led by Inspector Chuck Barandog.

Apparently thinking the police were tipped off on their presence, the driver immediately turned the motorcycle back and accelerated. Caught off guard, Sasan got left behind after she failed to grab hold and fell from the motorcycle.

The policemen, who were just on patrol and had no idea what Sasan and her companion were carrying, rushed to help her.  They ended up handcuffing her instead because of the packs of suspected shabu scattered around her.

The pieces of evidence were turned over to the Regional PNP Crime Lab for chemical analysis while Sasan is detained at the San Nicolas Police Station pending the filing of a criminal complaint for possession of illegal drugs against her.

In Barangay Kamagayan, five persons were also arrested after they were caught having a pot session around 2 p.m. inside the Citi Center Wet Market.

Christina Rermulta, 35; Edward Villaceran, 33; Stephen Ygot, 29; Nestor Agunod, 43; and Aikee Vertuzado, 31, were caught by passing Parian policemen.

The police seized from the suspects four empty plastic sachets with traces of suspected shabu and drug-sniffing paraphernalia.

In Barangay Talamban, Cebu City the same day, Investigation and Detection and Management Branch operatives also arrested Dofer Jayme while on patrol in Highway 77 past 9 p.m.

The police confiscated 13 small plastic packs of suspected shabu from Jayme, who is currently detained at the Cebu City Police Office stockade.

A criminal complaint for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 would be filed against him today./RHM (FREEMAN)