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Munson finds probable cause to charge alleged ‘ice’ dealer
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Posted on Sep 22 2008
The federal court yesterday found probable cause to warrant the filing of charges against Yong Ming Song, the man reportedly caught with 176.6 grams of methamphetamine or “ice” worth $80,000.
During a preliminary hearing, assistant U.S. attorney Jim Benedetto presented to the court Drug Enforcement Administration special agent Daniel Holcomb as the U.S. government’s witness.
Court-appointed counsel Joey San Nicolas argued for Song.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson found probable cause that a crime had been committed and that Song had committed the crime.
Munson remanded the defendant into the custody of the U.S. Marshal.
Benedetto told the court that the government would be filing a charging information promptly.
Song was arrested two weeks ago after a police’s check on him for driving without a seatbelt yielded 176.6 grams of “ice”—the second biggest haul of such illegal drugs so far in the CNMI.
Song, an employee of Rifu Garment Factory in San Vicente, is facing charges of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance in federal court.
The defendant apparently told authorities that he just picked up the package under the bench of a bus stop—as directed by a friend, a person named Chen based in China.
