Canadian convicted for drugs in ‘record time’

Are the wheels of justice grinding faster now?

This after a Makati City regional trial court convicted a Canadian national and sentenced him to life imprisonment for selling ecstasy pills in, according to the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG), a “record-breaking” time of just three months.

Convicted was Jeremy Douglas Harold Arthur Eaton who was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 by RTC Branch 64 Judge Gina Bibat-Palamos in a decision issued on Aug. 31 and received by the AIDG last week.

“This decision is a strong indication that our judiciary is likewise determined to curb the drug menace in our society,” AIDG acting director Senior Supt. Albert Ignatius Ferro said in a statement.

The Canadian was sentenced to life and ordered to pay a fine of P500,000.

According to the AIDG, the judge did not give credence to Eaton’s denial defense.

Eaton was arrested on June 20 by elements of the AIDG’s legal and investigation division and special operation unit after he sold 160 ecstasy pills to an undercover operative on Mercado Street in Makati.

On investigation, it turned out the drugs seized from him had come from the same batch of the 5,200 ecstasy pills seized from Dutch national Martin de Fong by the National Bureau of Investigation in May.