BY LIEZLE BASA INIGO
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ISABELA – A sales specialist transporting some P2.4 million worth of dried marijuana was intercepted last Monday at a quarantine checkpoint in Barangay Caquilingan, Cordon, Isabela.
Isabela Provincial Police spokesperson Capt .Frances Littaua said the suspect, John Patrick Catabona, 26, of Bagong Sikat, Munoz, Nueva Ecija, was riding a Hyundai Accent around 7 a.m. when police stopped him at a checkpoint for verification of his travel documents.
During inspection, authorities found out that his driver’s license was expired and the IATF identification card he presented was fake.
The checkpoint officer requested him to get off his car but he refused, forcing the authorities to search his vehicle where two sacks of dried marijuana leaves worth P2.4 million were found, according to police.
Prior to the suspect’s arrest, Cordon chief of police Maj. Alford Accad received information that Catabona allegedly bought a large volume of marijuana in Tabuk to be transported to Manila. This prompted a joint team of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Philippine National Police operatives to monitor him at the quarantine control point.
Accad said the suspect was charged on Tuesday with falsification of documents, violation of illegal drugs law, and health protocols.
