2 drug peddlers draw life in jail

Baguio City — Two drug personalities were sentenced to suffer  life term in jail after being convicted by a local court for selling 4.7 kilograms of marijuana to a Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) undercover agent in 2013. PDEA-Cordillera Director Juvenal Azurin identified the convicts as Melchor Martin Lagadeo and Kenneth Sagasa Lagadeo, who were found guilty of drug peddling by the court last January 18. The duo were arrested in a buy-bust operation on July 9, 2013 at Lourdes Grotto, here, and then charged with violating Section 5 (sale of illegal drugs), Article II of Republic Act No. 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. In its decision, the court did not give credence to their defense of denial and frame-up. “These defenses, like alibi, have been viewed with disfavor by our courts for being easily concocted and are used as a common defense ploy in most prosecutions [...]