A Commonwealth Utilities Corp. safety officer was arrested for alleged illegal possession of 13 gross grams of methamphetamine or \u201cice\u201d after a Customs K-9 dog detected drugs during a routine inspection on passengers departing Saipan to Rota at the Commuter Airport on Tuesday afternoon. <\/p>\n
Benjamin Jason Inos Manglona, 37, was arrested for illegal possession of controlled substance and trafficking of a controlled substance.<\/p>\n
At a hearing yesterday, Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio imposed a $100,000 cash bail on Manglona and set the preliminary hearing for May 2 at 1:30pm.<\/p>\n
Assistant public defender Cindy Nesbit was appointed as counsel for Manglona. Assistant attorney general Chester Hinds appeared for the government.<\/p>\n
Customs Officer III Maynard D. Reyes stated in his report that last Tuesday afternoon, Customs specialist 1 Mark Palacios conducted a routine K-9 inspection on passengers at the Commuter Airport and that K-9 dog Ben \u201cresponded\u201d to passenger Manglona.<\/p>\n
Two Customs officers instructed Manglona to proceed to the Customs arrival area for further inspection.<\/p>\n
At the arrival area, Manglona was informed that the K-9 dog was trained to respond to drug odor. <\/p>\n
Reyes said after asked if he had any drugs on him, the defendant took out a small plastic container containing a small glass pipe, believed to be a drug paraphernalia.<\/p>\n
During the inspection of Manglona\u2019s backpack, Reyes said he noticed three items wrapped in tissue.<\/p>\n
Upon inspection of the tissue, Reyes said he discovered three small baggies containing 13 gross grams of crystalline substance that was later tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine.<\/p>\n
The Drug Enforcement Task Force was then called for further investigation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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