TWO individuals were arrested for meth possession after a police officer conducted a traffic stop on them.
Kemmy Encha Qiu, 38, and Morell Bayani Esteves, 47, were each charged with possession of a controlled substance.
According to the complaint, on the afternoon of Nov. 2, 2022, a patrol police officer traveling southbound on Texas Road, Susupe observed a maroon sedan traveling northbound with its window rolled halfway, and whose female driver was not wearing a seat belt properly.
The officer made a U-turn, activated his emergency lights, and pursued the sedan for a violator stop.
Upon approaching the vehicle, the police officer saw the female driver with a male seated in the front passenger seat. The officer told the driver why she was pulled over, and asked her to present her driver’s license, vehicle registration and insurance documents.
The driver was Qui, and her passenger was Esteves.
As the police officer was speaking to Qui, he noticed a small, clear Ziploc bag on the driver side/gauge cluster which contained a cut straw and a crystalline substance inside of it.
Asked about the contents of the Ziploc bag, Qiu said, “asiga,” the Chamorro word for salt. She denied that it belonged to her.
Using a field narcotics identification kit, the police officer tested the substance found in the car, and the result was presumptive positive for methamphetamine.
Later, at the booking section of the Department of Corrections, Esteves was searched by Corrections officers who found two clear Ziploc bags containing a crystalline substance hidden in his cellphone case. The contents also tested positive for methamphetamine, police said.
On Monday, Qui and Esteves appeared before Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho who imposed a $100,000 cash bail on each of the defendants.
Assistant Public Defender Tyler Scott appeared for Esteves while a defense attorney will be appointed for Qui. Assistant Public Defender Steven Kessel represented the government.
Both defendants were remanded to Corrections after the hearing and were ordered to return to court for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 4 at 10 a.m., and for an arraignment on Jan. 9 at 9 a.m.
Morell Esteves is escorted by a Corrections officer at Guma Hustisia on Monday.
