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Tinian police sergeant nabbed for ‘ice’
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Posted on Mar 28 2006
Local and federal agents arrested yesterday a Tinian police sergeant who was allegedly engaged in selling methamphetamine or “ice” on the island.
Sgt. Peter B. Cepeda, 44, was arrested on charges of distribution of a controlled substance.
The Saipan Tribune learned that Cepeda is the officer in charge of the Tinian Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Motor Vehicle.
Cepeda was taken yesterday afternoon before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Alex Munson for a sealed hearing.
Munson later unsealed the case following assistant U.S. attorney Craig Moore’s request.
Munson imposed no bail for Cepeda and set the preliminary hearing for today. The judge remanded the defendant back to the custody of the U.S. Marshal.
A Drug Enforcement Administration special agent stated in court papers that the defendant sold $200 worth of “ice” to a DEA source during a controlled purchase on Oct. 25, 2005.
The special agent said that on Oct. 25, 2005 at 5:40pm, members of the DEA/CNMI Task Force and the CNMI Customs Investigative Section met with a DEA source at a location in San Jose, Tinian.
The special agent said the team prepared to buy $500 worth of “ice” from Cepeda using DEA funds.
The agent said that at 6:35pm the surveillance units observed the defendant’s Toyota Tacoma pickup truck parked in front of a poker arcade in San Jose.
The DEA’s confidential source entered the establishment. At 6:50pm, the cooperating source and Cepeda went out from the poker arcade.
The two boarded the DEA source’s vehicle and proceeded to U-Save Store where the source took plastic straws to be used in packaging the “ice,” the special agent said.
Cepeda and the DEA source went to the Tinian pier then later drove back to the poker arcade.
The defendant entered the poker establishment, while the cooperating source went back to the team’s location where he handed over $200 worth of “ice” and returned the $300 cash balance, the agent said.
The special agent added that, during a field test, the substance was found to be positive as “ice.”
