This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2012-07-04 |
PEREZ, J. |
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| We also reject the contention of the defense that the expertise of the apprehending officers in drug operations affords them the benefit of concocting a story to make it appear that the appellants were caught in flagrante delicto. In citing People v. Deocariza,[22] where this Court declared that "[c]ourts must hence be extra vigilant in trying drug charges lest an innocent person is made to suffer the very severe penalties for drug offenses,"[23] the defense failed to note that the circumstances of that case are totally different from the present case. Unlike the straightforward and corroborated testimonies in the instant case, the Court found the lone testimony of the arresting officer in Deocariza seriously flawed. It observed: x x x The sergeant testified that the accused was caught in the course of a buy-bust operation prepared and planned by Sgt. Bonete. The operation was apparently conceived upon receipt of a report from an undisclosed informant of rampant selling of illegal drugs at a basketball court beside the store where accused was arrested. In a notable departure from the ordinary or standard operating procedure of law enforcement agents in this respect, the "tip" from their informant did not identify any suspect, much less mention the name of the accused. The tip intimated only that illicit drug trafficking was rampant in San Juan, Molo Blvd. Nothing more. Yet no surveillance of that area was first conducted by the law enforcement agents before the actual "bust." They had no suspect, not even a description of the suspect's face nor a name. Yet the testimony of Sgt. Deocampo clearly stated that as soon as the information was called in, the anti-narcotics agents immediately repaired to the area and conducted a buy-bust operation. We note also that the agents did not meet their informer at the designated place. Neither did their informer introduce the poseur-buyer to any suspect. It is unlikely for officers of the law to deal so cavalierly with "tips" about drug trafficking as not to even concern themselves with securing names and identities of alleged or probable suspects.[24] | |||||