James Basa Camacho is escorted by a Corrections officer and a CNMI marshal to a bail hearing Monday morning.
CNMI Chief Marshal Jason Tarkong executed an active bench warrant for James Basa Camacho on July 11, which led to the discovery of eleven Ziploc bags containing methamphetamine in Camacho’s possession.
Charged with trafficking and possession, Camacho, 35, appeared before Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho in the custody of the Department of Corrections at a bail hearing Monday morning.
At the hearing, James Camacho was represented by Assistant Public Defender Charlene Brown while Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds appeared for the Commonwealth government.
Judge Camacho imposed a $100,000 cash bail on the defendant and remanded him to the custody of Corrections. The defendant was ordered to return to court for a preliminary hearing on July 19 at 10 a.m. and for an arraignment on July 29 at 9 a.m.
On July 7, Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio issued a bench warrant against James Camacho, a Drug Court participant.
On July 11 at 4:33 p.m., Tarkong called the police and said he saw James Camacho exiting a deli with a black shoulder-strap bag strung over his shoulder and torso area while holding a cellphone.
Tarkong told the defendant that he, Tarkong, had an active warrant for James Camacho’s arrest. Tarkong then detained the defendant while waiting for the police.
Initially, the defendant handed his black bag to responding Police Officer Freddie Guerrero and Tarkong, but after the officers began examining it, James Camacho withdrew his consent to search the bag.
The officers asked the defendant if there were any weapons or contraband in his bag, but he refused to answer.
He also refused to answer when asked if the black bag belonged to him.
Asked if the officers could look into the bag, he said, “No!”
The defendant was arrested and was read his Miranda rights by Tarkong, but “he refused to acknowledge this,” the complaint stated.
Officer Guerrero told James Camacho that he, Guerrero, would put the defendant’s black bag on the front passenger seat of the police vehicle to which James Camacho said, “Okay.”
On the way to Corrections, James Camacho asked Guererro if he, the defendant, could contact a Drug Court case worker, saying that “the things inside the bag will put me in jail for a long time.”
When James Camacho was booked, the black bag was given to Corrections Officer Jack Pua. The inventory conducted on the items inside the bag was witnessed by Officer Guerrero.
Inside the black bag was a black pelican case wrapped and taped with a clear Ziploc bag. Inside the black pelican case were multiple Ziploc bags, each containing crystalline substance.
Officer Guerrero also saw folded cash, other crystalline substance, a weigh scale, a glass pipe containing residue, a lighter, Q-tips, and cut-up straws with one end sealed off.
He then requested assistance from a Drug Enforcement Task Force and DPS crime scene technician.
According to DETF Officer Jonathan Aguon, all eleven Ziploc bags containing crystalline substance tested positive for methamphetamine. The total weight of the confiscated illegal drugs was 111.7 gross grams. The authorities did not provide the street value of the confiscated meth.
