LIFE FOR SELLING A TEASPOON OF SHABU

A QUEZON City court has sentenced a construction painter to life
imprisonment for pushing a small dose (.02 gram) of methamphetamine
hydrochloride, or shabu, to a policeman in an entrapment.

The amount is about half of what an espresso-coffee teaspoon can
hold.

Presiding Judge Severino de Castor Jr. of Branch 82 of the Regional
Trial Court ordered Luis Santos, 26, married, to pay a fine of P500,000.

Court records show that Santos sold the small quantity of shabu to a
poseur buyer, Senior Police Officer Brigido An, on May 30, 2003.

An, of the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Talipapa Police Station in
Quezon City, and other police officers conducted the entrapment at the
corner of Quirino Highway and Ramoy Street, Banapay, Talipapa, based
on a tip from an informant that a certain Luis was selling shabu in
the area.

On arriving on Ramoy Street, the informant introduced Santos to
An.

An gave a marked P100 bill, for which Santos handed him a sachet of
shabu.

Santos denied the allegations. He told the court that he was arrested
on the same day in his house at 471 Quirino Highway, Barangay
Talipapa, in Novaliches. He said he was preparing to visit a friend
when a certain Jojo knocked on the door and handed him the P100 bill,
saying "he was able to borrow money from his friend."

All Elements In The Deal Established

Santos refused to accept the money, so Jojo left. However, when he was
on Quirino Highway, he met Jojo, who tried to give him the money
again. When Santos took hold of it, four persons, including An,
immediately arrested him.

The court gave no credence to Santos's testimony and convicted him of
drug pushing. It said all the elements in the transaction were
clearly and adequately established "starting from the initial contract
between buyer and pusher until the sale was consummated with the
delivery of the illegal drug."

The court dismissed Santos's allegations that police punched him in
the stomach and got his wallet and other valuables during the arrest.