Two weeks ago, a 37-year-old woman was arrested at the Saipan international airport after she tried to smuggle “ice” into Tinian.
Last November, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in collaboration with local police, arrested the then-Tinian resident director of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. on “ice” charges.
The Department of Public Safety identified the latest defendants as Mike Evangelista, 53, of San Jose village; Kurt B. King, 29, of Marpo village; and Baron Dela Cruz, 27, also of San Jose.
The defendants are being held on charges of illegal possession of controlled substance, and trafficking of controlled substance.
“We will continue until we clean the islands and make the CNMI safe,” DPS acting Commissioner Ambrosio T. Ogumoro who was in-charge of the overall operation, told the Variety.
Ogumoro met with the members of the Joint Drug Enforcement Task Force when it arrived on a boat at the Smiling Cove marina, together with the arrested defendants, yesterday afternoon.
Court records showed that King and another defendant were arrested on the charge of raping a woman at a Tinian cemetery in Dec. 2009.
King has been released by the Superior Court to his common-law wife as third party custodian.
Criminal Investigation Bureau chief Sgt. Paul Ogumoro said the department, in collaboration with other agencies, is “serious in its war against drugs.”
He declined to further give details.
DPS spokesman PO2 Eric David said members of the Joint Drug Enforcement Task Force left Saipan at 2 a.m. for Tinian.
David said the defendants were arrested at 7 a.m. yesterday.
He said authorities earlier secured an arrest and search warrants issued by Associate Judge David A. Wiseman who imposed a $30,000 cash bail on each defendant.
They are expected to appear for their initial appearance today in Superior Court.
