Police arrested a GMA-7 employee who swallowed a suspected shabu sachet after authorities stopped him at a checkpoint in Quezon City on Monday.
The suspect was identified as Baron Giovani Belison, a field production assistant of GMA-7 News and Public Affairs.
The Quezon City Police District said they saw Belison arguing with another male tourist in front of a bank in Aurora Boulevard. The suspect was on board a Nissan Frontier with markings of GMA 7’s radio station DZBB.
When the police approached them, Belison, 36, gassed-up and tried to run away, but the checkpoint officers blocked him.
The police officers asked the suspect to show his driver’s license, and there they saw two plastic sachets of suspected shabu in Belison’s possession.
Investigators said the suspect swallowed one of the sachets while the officers grabbed the other packet containing about 0.2 grams of shabu.
Belison will face cases of reckless driving and violation of the Dangerous Drug Act, police said.
The suspect denied that the shabu sachets were his, despite his former use of narcotics, according to a DZBB tweet.
DZBB said the Belison was not its employee, adding that he belonged to a “third-party supplier.”
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Angkas driver arrested for working as drug courier
An Angkas driver who also works as an alleged illegal drug courier was arrested in Sampaloc, Manila, amid a lockdown enforced against the spread of COVID-19.
Police entered the home of Angkas driver Joshua Alfonso and drug supplier Michael Aquino.
According to police intelligence info, Alfonso is delivering drugs, not food.
The driver admitted that he just tried to smuggle the drug since he found it difficult to earn money due to the lockdown.
According to police, lawbreakers now resort to pretending to be delivery guys especially since they are allowed to work in the middle of lockdown.
In a statement, Angkas insisted that they would not overlook illegal activities under their platform.
“We would like to emphasize that Angkas has never condoned any kind of illegal activity of our bikers. We have placed the rider concerned under preventive suspension as we cooperate with the authorities on their investigation,” said George Royeca, chief transport advocate of Angkas.