lawmaker clrarged over shabu lab By EMMANUEL TUPAs
Charges have been filed
against f ormer Catanduanes congressman Cesar Sarmien- to over his alleged involve- ment in a shabu laboratorv in Virac that was dismantled in November 2016. Charges of conspiracy to manufacture prohiliited na.- cotics under the Comprehen- sive Dangerous Dnigs Adt were filed by the Virac-uolice t'efore the'Depart-dnt of Sarmi6nto Justice on Feb. 26. Tabor said Sarmiento re- In a four-page complaint, ceived millions of pesos in Virac police chief Mal. Bon protectiolr and carnpaign Billy David Timuai said money lrom the illegal drug Sarmiento did not onlv ben- trade. He claimed Isidorol efit from the shabu libora- rnrhom he said was a frieni tory but also conspired with of the former congressman, lormer National Bureau of In- delivered the money. vestigation anti-illegal drugs Tabor claimed' he and unit offlcial Augusto Eric Isidoro delivered around Isidoro in the manufacture of P10 million at the former law- illegal drugs. maker's residence sometime The police cited the tes- in Apnl 2016. He said another timony of Ernesto Tabor |r, P10 millior v''as remitted to alias Entoy, who claimed to 9arnlirrti' irr August 201(r. have perional knowledqe Sarrr,ientl) lost to loseoh of the transactions betweErr CtLa jrr tlLe gubernatorial rice Sarmiento and Isidoro. in Ca liinduanes in 2019.