4 truck drivers test positive for shabu

By Cet Dematera

Four drivers of cargo trucks bound for Visayas were arrested when found positive for sniffing illegal drug in a random drug testing checkpoint along the portion of the Maharlika Highway outside of Matnog Port in Sorsogon put up by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) recently.

Grace Rojas, LTO-Sorsogon chief, said they already confiscated the licenses of the drivers and turned them over to LTO Irosin while filing of appropriate charges was already being prepared against the suspects who were temporarily placed under police custody.

Rojas withheld first the identities of the drivers pending the results of confirmatory tests.

She said that the random drug testing of the drivers and inspection of their vehicles are being carried out outside Matnog Port to make sure that the drivers are not high on drugs or that they don’t sneak illegal items in crossing the sea to the Visayas and Mindanao.

“The government is doing this random drug testing and inspection to ensure the safety of everybody,” Rojas said.

It is a known practice by some drivers to sniff illegal drugs to endure a long-distance travel without turning sleepy.

In a number of past inspections, several motorists were nabbed trying to sneaked in or out of the Matnog Port guns and other prohibited items from Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao and vice versa.