Customs inspector, 2 others charged with drug peddling

A Rota Customs inspector and two others were held on drug trafficking charges yesterday amid allegations that they distributed methamphetamine or “ice” to several individuals on Rota between July 2001 and April 2002.

Rota residents Jeremy S. Atalig, a Customs Services agent, Jose M. Sablan and Sylvan Atalig appeared yesterday before US District Court Chief Judge Alex R. Munson with respect to the criminal complaint, charging them with five counts of distribution of controlled substance.

Results of a task force investigation revealed that the three defendants have a common “ice” source outside of Rota, according to Assistant US Attorney John J. Rice, who is prosecuting the case.

“The investigation has shown that the three gentleman charged are all related, as far as their ice trafficking. They had the same common source and that five different charges are all related,” said Rice.

The investigation spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with aid of the Customs Services and the Department of Public Safety, further revealed that Sablan, a former Lands and Natural Resources employee, is the alleged main supplier of ice between the two defendants.

Both Sablan and Sylvan Atalig are charged with two counts of distribution of controlled substance while Jeremy M. Atalig has been leveled with one count.

Each count of distribution of controlled substance is equivalent to a maximum of 20 years imprisonment and up to $1 million in fine, the prosecutor stated.

Pending a grand jury indictment, the three defendants are to appear for a preliminary examination set for May 17, 2002.

“Our present plans are we will present this case to a grand jury for them to decide whether or not there’s a probable cause to proceed further in the case,” Rice told reporters during a press conference yesterday.

Munson ordered the defendants to each post a $25,000 unsecured bond. Further, the court required them to submit to a narcotics substance testing, in addition to other conditions.

Albert A. Taitano, a DEA/CNMI Task Force agent, narrated in a probable cause affidavit that the three defendants were observed handing to several persons, posing as customers, between one to three plastic straws containing crystalline substance, which has been confirmed as “ice.”