BECAUSE Drug Enforcement Task Force officers entered Millie R. Mantanona’s hotel room without a warrant, her attorney, Joey P. San Nicolas, is asking the Superior Court to suppress evidence obtained from the search and seizure of his client’s belongings, arguing that it was obtained as “fruit of the poisonous tree.”
Mantanona, 49, is accused of smuggling three pounds of methamphetamine worth $281,000 from Guam to Saipan last year.
She was charged with two counts of trafficking of controlled substance, and two counts of illegal possession of controlled substance.
San Nicolas said his client, on Aug. 30, 2024, was the subject of an undercover DETF operation involving a confidential source.
“The confidential source or CS drove Ms. Mantanona around Saipan throughout the day. At approximately 6 p.m. the CS called DETF to inform them that the CS and Ms. Mantanona were in the parking lot of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Susupe Village and that Ms. Mantanona possessed crystal methamphetamine within her purse located within the vehicle. The CS also informed DETF that moments earlier she and Ms. Mantanona stopped by the Gold Beach Hotel in Garapan wherein Ms. Mantanona got down from the vehicle, entered the hotel and returned with crystal methamphetamine,” San Nicolas said.
He added, “The CS did not follow Ms. Mantanona into the hotel. The CS remained in the vehicle.”
“At 6:20 p.m. DETF members pulled the CS’s vehicle over and arrested Ms. Mantanona. The vehicle was impounded and inventoried, including Ms. Mantanona’s purse. As a result of the vehicle inventory, DETF officers found a silver key in Ms. Mantanona’s purse,” San Nicolas said.
“On the morning of Aug. 31, 2024, DETF agents Shawn Dela Cruz and Mcknox Mabel visited the Gold Beach Hotel and met the hotel janitor, Mr. Jin Feng, to inquire about the silver key that was found in Ms. Mantanona’s purse,” the defense attorney said.
Feng is a Chinese national who speaks little to no English, he added.
According to Officer Mabel, Feng confirmed that the key belonged to the Gold Beach Hotel, but he did not know to which door the key belonged.
“At about 11:50 a.m. DETF agents Mabel and Dela Cruz walked up to the second floor, without a search warrant, and proceeded to insert the silver key into the several door locks on the second floor, pursuant to the alleged consent of Mr. Feng. After several attempts at opening the second-floor room locks, the officers unlocked Room 213,” San Nicolas said.
At 4:40 p.m., Investigator Joana Lyn B. Laniyo and Customs Officer Maynard Reyes met with the owner of Gold Beach Hotel, who told the officers that sometime in 2022, he allowed Eric Reyes, Mantanona’s brother and “a good customer,” to utilize the rooms, and that he gave Reyes the keys to Room 215 and Room 213.
San Nicolas said Feng filled out and signed a Consent to Search and Confiscate Form.
“Mr. Feng signed his name in Chinese. Based on the form, Mr. Feng was advised of his constitutional rights and of his right to refuse consent. Moreover, the form authorized DETF Officers George David and Laniyo to search for and eventually obtain 1) Jansport luggage, 2) dark colored blanket, 3) a pair of white socks and 4) an empty clear Ziploc bag,” San Nicolas said.
“At 11 p.m. Judge Joseph N. Camacho issued a search warrant for Room 213. Minutes later officers seized two Ziploc bags containing methamphetamine from Room 213,” San Nicolas said.
On Sept. 2, 2024, two days after DETF’s search of Room 213, Gold Beach Hotel owner Kevin Tang signed a pre-written statement stating that he authorized Feng to assist the officers to open the rooms for the officers to search.
On Feb. 1, 2025, private investigator Claudio K. Norita interviewed Jin Feng and Kevin Tang about the case.
“Noteworthy to Mr. Norita was the fact that Mr. Feng could not speak English and required an interpreter to communicate with him. According to Mr. Feng, he did not consent to Officers Dela Cruz and Mabel’s search of any of the rooms on the second floor. With respect to the Consent to Search and Confiscate Form he signed on Aug. 31, Mr. Feng did not understand the contents of the document as he does not read or write English. Mr. Kevin Tang informed Mr. Norita that he did not consent to any search of any rooms and that he specifically requested for a search warrant and that he would therefore comply once issued,” San Nicolas said.
Citing previous rulings, he said “several cases support the principle that a landlord cannot consent to a search of a tenant’s premises.”
He said the DETF officers had no authority to search Room 213.
“To be sure, Officers Dela Cruz and Mabel had neither a search warrant nor permission from the tenant, Mr. Reyes, when they conducted the search of Room 213. The officers’ supposed reliance on the janitor’s consent was insufficient as Mr. Feng did not have the authority to consent to the search of Room 213,” San Nicolas said.
Accordingly, the search of Room 213 on the evening of Aug. 31, 2024 was also unlawful and any evidence obtained as a result of the illegal search and seizure must be suppressed as it violated the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 3 of the Commonwealth Constitution, San Nicolas said.
“This includes the seizure of all evidence obtained by the DETF pursuant to the search warrant that was issued later that evening,” he added.
San Nicolas requested that the court hold a hearing and require the prosecution to justify its searches by demonstrating that they were lawful.
