Magsaysay clan member nabbed in Olongapo drug raid

A member of a political clan in Zambales province was arrested with two men, including an Australian national, from their alleged drug hole in Olongapo City late Friday, an anti-drug agency official said Saturday.

Major Ferdinand Marcelino, head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency's (PDEA) Special Enforcement Service, identified the arrested suspects as Enrique "Jun" Magsaysay, nephew of former Zambales governor Vic Magsaysay; Australian Robert Paul Mason and a certain Mark Anthony Quinday.

Marcelino said the three were arrested from Room 4-A of Sanlavie Apartelle at #64 Barangay Asinan, Gordon Avenue in Olongapo City. He said the three suspects used the room as a drug and sex safehouse.

He said his team seized an undetermined amount of suspected heroin and methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu and various drug paraphernalia from the safehouse.

Marcelino said his agents rented a room just beside the suspects' safehouse and placed the area under surveillance for a week.

He said their agents made an improvised "peep hole" on the room's ceiling and saw scantily dressed women going in and out of the room. He said the suspects had regular drug sessions with the women.

Marcelino said pictures of the drug session and the women taken through the peep hole were used by the group to acquire a search warrant.

The PDEA said the suspects belonged to the agency's list of top drug pushers in the province.

Magsaysay, however, said that he was just in a wrong place at the wrong time. He said he went to the room to trade in a video camera.

The Australian, meanwhile, admitted that he is a drug user, but denied he was a pusher. Reports from Jeff Tombado and Ryan Chua, ABS-CBN News