BAGUIO CITY– Notorious drug cartel big boss Federico “Eric” Oliveros, 38, who was wrongly freed-on-bail a week ago was re-arrested Tuesday night, right from the same hideout atop San Carlos Heights, Irisan barangay where he was taken by authorities on July 14.
Agents from the PDEA-CAR, NBI-Cordillera, CIDG-CAR and local police acting on a rectified order by Regional Trial Court branch 60 Judge Rufus Malecdan to re-arrest Oliveros, took him at around 9:30 Tuesday night and brought him back to jail to face trial for 50 grams (P350,000 worth) of shabu, drug paraphernalia, liquid meth, and a caliber 25 pistol with bullets seized from his home during the July 14 raid.
Oliveros, who according to PDEA took over leadership of his father’s “Oliveros drug cartel” operating in Baguio City, the highland region and neighboring provinces, again readily gave up, PDEA and NBI operatives said.
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“If I knew I have a (bench) warrant, I could have surrendered right away,” parried Oliveros in Iluko vernacular while feigning against his obvious panting.
The drug cartel big boss, “heir-apparent” of his father — Baguio City’s infamous drug kingpin “Bernardo ‘Benjie’ Oliveros who is serving a life term (20-25 years) at the NBP and was fined P10 million for selling drugs in 2013, was freed on a reduced P157,000 bail bond on July 29 after Judge Malecdan admitted of wrongly approving a fiscal’s similar erroneous recommendation to free him even with a more than 10 grams drug seizure. “The court may say that Judges are only humans, and sometimes we overlook what should not be overlooked. Mea Culpa. Likewise, a gentle reminded, prosecutors and law enforcement officers should do the same, not overlook what should not be overlooked, unless the law and the rules are amended yesterday,” Malecdan admitted. The P157,000 bail bond posted by Oliveros was also cancelled.
PDEA-CAR through its lawyers who petitioned the court of Malecdan Tuesday morning promised vigilance for all the drug cases being tried here hoping to get convictions.
Earlier this week, PDEA-CAR regional director Gil Castro met with Baguio City Prosecutor Elmer Sagsado to iron out hitches in the government’s legal offensive versus big-time drug dealers and syndicates here. “The Fiscal’s Office promises not to interpose any objections of PDEA’s opposition to plea bargaining mechanisms employed by arrested drug dealers.”
Sagsago, Baguio City Prosecutor for the last five years here claimed, ‘there is an alarming trend of big time drug dealers scheming through the plea bargaining chip, which is though allowed by the Supreme Court, letting the court to a conviction of a lesser drug offense like from drug trafficking into a simple drug use just to skirt around the law and get freedom after only a few years, only to go back to their old illicit trade.’
Oliveros himself was earlier convicted of drug use and served 6 years, only to be back to the drug trade again.
By Hent
Photo: PDEA-Cordillera agents sift through the seized shabu, drug paraphernalia and other seized items inside the lair of notorious drug cartel big boss Federico “Eric” Oliveros, 38, (in black jacket at the left being guarded by a PDEA agent) at San Carlos Heights, Irisan barangay here during a raid by PDEA, NBI, and police late Tuesday night after a local court allowed them via a search warrant.—Artemio A. Dumlao, July 15, 2020
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