The rear of the District Court of Guam in Hagåtña on Feb. 5, 2025.
Photo by David Castro/The Guam Daily Post
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — An arrest warrant was issued for a Chinese national from Saipan facing federal drug dealing charges who was found to have left Guam without permission.
On Friday, the U.S. Probation Office filed a petition requesting a warrant of arrest be issued for Benzhe Shao, a man indicted in the District Court of Guam on charges of possession with intent to distribute 50 or more grams of methamphetamine.
According to court documents, Shao, a Chinese national from Saipan, came to Guam by boat and was forced to sell methamphetamine by an unnamed cooperating defendant in mid-2024.
After being charged in October 2024, Shao pleaded not guilty and was placed on supervised release pending trial, currently scheduled for in August.
Shao, however, was discovered to have violated conditions of his release, which included reporting to pretrial services if Shao makes any changes to his residence or telephone number, not obtaining a new passport and not leaving Guam without permission from Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood.
U.S. Pretrial Services Officer Trina Duenas explained that she received information on Thursday that Shao left the island and learned from Shao’s employer that Shao no longer worked at the business.
The following day, Homeland Security Investigations learned that Shao left Guam on Feb. 3 on a Jeju Airlines flight to Seoul using a passport which expires on Dec. 18, 2034.
“The passport the defendant had at the time of his arrest is still in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The defendant did not request permission from the court to obtain a new passport or to leave Guam,” the petition stated.
Shao was additionally scheduled for a drug test on Thursday, but failed to report as required by his pretrial conditions.
As a result of the violations, Duenas requested a warrant be issued for Shao’s arrest.
On Monday, Judge Tydingco-Gatewood found that there was good cause to grant Duenas’ request and ordered a warrant be issued for Shao’s arrest.