Canadian to face drug charges in PH before deportation - BI

A Canadian man, who was recently arrested over the P9.68-billion drug haul in Tagaytay City in April, would be prosecuted in the country before being deported, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Friday.

Thomas Gordon O’Quinn, or alias James Martin, was arrested on May 16 in Barangay Maitim, Tagaytay City, in a joint operation by BI, the National Capital Region Police Office, Police Regional Office IV-A, and the Tagaytay City Police Station.

The bureau said that O’Quinn faces charges of violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 (illegal possession of drugs) and the Revised Penal Code for using fictitious names.

“He has to stand trial and face his crimes locally before we deport him so he can again stand trial for the crimes he committed abroad,” said BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco in a statement.

O’Quinn is also the subject of a red notice by the INTERPOL following an arrest warrant issued by a district court in Western Washington, United States.

The BI said that O’Quinn and his cohorts exported and imported illegal drugs from Canada to the US and vice versa, from August 2014 to June 2015.

“He was reportedly charged before the said court with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute the illegal substance called methylenedioxyamphetamine and five kilograms or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine,” the BI said. “An additional charge of conspiracy to export from the US five kilograms of cocaine was also filed against him in the same court.”

O’Quinn could be sentenced to a maximum of life imprisonment under the US penal code if he is found guilty, the bureau said. —VBL, GMA Integrated News