2 Canadians get life for P100-M drugs

Two Canadians were sentenced to life in prison after a Makati City court yesterday found them guilty of possession of P100 million worth of shabu and Ecstasy during a drug sting in 2014.

In an 11-page decision, Judge Selma Palacio Alaras of the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 63 found James Clayton Riach and Ali Memar Mortazavi Shirazi guilty of violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

Riach and Shirazi were ordered to pay a fine of P500,000 each.

Operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested the two after they sold P5,000 worth of drugs during a sting at the corner of Kalayaan Avenue and Salamanca street in Barangay Poblacion.

The NBI conducted the operation after its anti-organized and transnational crimes division received information about the suspects’ illegal drug activities.

NBI agents said they recovered 117.34 grams of shabu, cocaine and Ecstasy tablets from the Canadians.

Riach belied the charges against him.

His lawyer Thomas de Castro said his client was not present during the drug sting on Jan. 8, 2014.

De Castro said he accompanied Riach on that day to file a complaint with the Makati police station against robbers who broke into his house.

Shirazi also denied the accusation, saying the drugs recovered during the operation were planted by the police.

The court junked Shirazi and and Riach’s alibi, citing the amount of drugs and paraphernalia confiscated from them.

The drugs were turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.