1/2 American pinoy gets set up with powered milk

[piglett]

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20101229-311446/US-probes-death-of-US-Navy-officer-PDEA-says-no-drugs-in-victims-bag

this is an old story but i thought i would share it anyhow



MANILA, Philippines—United States authorities are conducting a parallel probe into the case of a Filipino-American US Navy officer who jumped to his death from a police station at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Monday after he was arrested for drug possession.

Superintendent Manuel Pintado, deputy chief of the Police Center for Aviation Security (PCAS), said his office was cooperating fully with agents of the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service looking into the alleged suicide of Lt. Cmdr. Scintar B. Mejia.

“We have nothing to hide,” he said, adding they were prepared to answer any questions and to be as transparent as possible.

A report Tuesday by the Associated Press quoted Dionisio Santiago, head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, as saying that chemical tests on the powder in Mejia’s bag showed it did not contain drugs. The tests, however, didn’t determine what the powder was, the AP report said.

Pintado said a team of American forensic experts was also expected to arrive to conduct an autopsy on Mejia’s body.

The Navy officer, who had been taken to the PCAS office at NAIA Terminal 1 following his arrest on Sunday night for alleged possession of a sachet containing suspected cocaine, jumped headfirst into a stairwell on the second floor of the building.

Pintado said Mejia’s actions before and after his arrest were a mystery.

He said he learned from the US authorities that Mejia had arrived on Christmas Day, stayed in a Manila hotel and arranged for a flight back the following day. He was carrying $30,600 in his pocket.

On Monday morning, Mejia told his guards that he wanted to go to the toilet. When they went there and found it occupied, the Fil-Am insisted on going outside the building to relieve himself, the police said.

While walking toward the exit, Mejia, who was in handcuffs, ran off and jumped into a stairwell.