Palacios allegedly sold $200 worth of ‘ice’

Members of the Drug Enforcement Task Force and the Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigation Bureau used a confidential source to buy a total of $200 worth of crystal methamphetamine or “ice” from Rep. Raymond D. Palacios in two transactions, according to police reports.

This developed as Palacios, who was arrested on Friday for alleged “ice” trafficking, was taken to the Superior Court yesterday for his initial appearance or bail hearing.

His bail was initially set at $60,000 cash but Associate Judge Perry B. Inos later reduced it to 10 percent of $30,000 cash after determining that the lawmaker is not a flight risk.

Inos also notified Palacios about an outstanding bench warrant for his arrest issued by the Superior Court on May 5, 2011, for his failure to appear at a hearing in a civil case filed against him by Bank of Saipan. The court imposed a $500 cash bail in the bench warrant. It was not clear why the bench warrant was not served on Palacios when it was issued in May.

In the civil case, Inos released Palacios on his own recognizance and set the hearing for Dec. 1, 2011, before Associate Judge David Wiseman.

Attorney Michael White, who was in court yesterday, told reporters that the civil case filed by Bank of Saipan has been consolidated with a PTI civil case against the lawmaker.

White said there was a court judgment ordering Palacios to make payment for more than $6,000 but on May 5, 2011 the representative did not show up in court.

As part of the bail conditions in the “ice” case, Inos ordered Palacios not to leave Saipan, to stay away from all ports, and to obey all laws.

Preliminary hearing will be on Nov. 8 at 1:30pm and the arraignment, Nov. 14 at 9am.

At the start of the hearing, Palacios told the court he could not afford to hire a lawyer but Inos later determined that the lawmaker is not eligible for a court-appointed counsel. Chief public defender Adam Hardwicke represented Palacios for the bail hearing. Assistant attorney general Nicole Driscoll appeared for the government.

The 48-year-old Palacios was smiling when he emerged from the courtroom after the hearing.

When asked for comments about the charges, Palacios merely said: “I don’t know.”

Police detective Steven Castro stated in his report that he and another detective met with a cooperating source on Sept. 5, 2011, to talk about a congressman who sells “ice.” The cooperating source allegedly bought “ice” from Palacios sometime in August 2011.

Palacios allegedly told the cooperating source to just call him on his cellular phone if he/she wants to buy more “ice.”

Castro said that, on Oct. 19, 2011, during a controlled buy-walk operation, the cooperating source managed to buy $100 worth of “ice” from Palacios at the parking lot of a bank at Afetna Square Building in San Antonio.

That same day, Castro said, the same cooperating source was able to buy $100 more worth of “ice” from Palacios.

Detectives determined that the substance sold by Palacios in both transactions tested presumptive positive for crystal methamphetamine or “ice.”

Castro said that during the first controlled buy-walk operation, a surveillance team saw Palacios’ vehicle exiting from the house of a known drug dealer, Cunyan Ma, in Chalan Kanoa. Palacios then headed to San Antonio where the drug deal occurred in the parking lot.

At the end of the second buy-walk operation, Castro said surveillance team closely followed and monitored Palacios as he headed to Ma’s house in Chalan Kanoa.

Castro said that Ma was arrested on April 21, 2011, for illegal possession of a controlled substance and trafficking of a controlled substance.

The detective said that Ma, the girlfriend of convicted “ice” trafficker Ignacio Leon Guerrero, is the caretaker of Leon Guerrero’s house.