Navy Officer Jumps to Death After Being Falsely Arrested for Drugs
- Posted on December 28, 2010 at 3:25pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A U.S. Navy officer jumped to his death at Manila’s airport after he was arrested with what was thought to be cocaine, Philippine officials said Tuesday, but tests later showed the white powder wasn’t an illegal drug.
Lt. Cmdr. Scintar Buenviaje Mejia died of head injuries after jumping from a second-floor staircase Monday while a security guard escorted him to the bathroom, aviation police chief Pedro Desuasido said.
The 35-year-old Mejia, a U.S. citizen of Filipino descent, was arrested a day earlier at an airport X-ray machine after security officials found a plastic packet containing what was suspected to be cocaine in his bag, Desuasido said. He was about to board a flight to Los Angeles.
Desuasido said Mejia shouted and threw the packet at security officials. He denied the packet was his and claimed he was set up.
Dionisio Santiago, head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, said chemical tests on the powder in Mejia’s bag showed it did not contain drugs. The tests, however, didn’t determine what the powder was.
Wossie Mazengia, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman, said American officials were aware of what happened to Mejia. She said Philippine National Police officials were investigating.
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Comments (70)
teaparty teamster
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 7:23pmSpent a lot of time at the PI while on active duty back in the 80′s. No reason for us to goback to that crap hole!
Report Post »budman54
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 7:00pmThere has got to be more to this story. My gut feeling is that he did not jump but was shoved over that 2nd floor railing
Report Post »Diamond Girl
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 6:19pmThere is far too much missing from this story…wished you had more, guess we‘ll have to wait for ’the rest of the story’ as they say.
Report Post »ChristLed
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:51pmIf he wasn’t a crackhead before, he sure ended up one after landing on his head.
Report Post »SlimnRanger
Posted on December 29, 2010 at 12:46pmMy guess is he was whacked over the head and pushed off the stair case
Report Post »TexBork
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:43pmI wonder if it would still be “cocaine” now had he not jumped? The military is very high stress. I remember there were three guys who killed themselves for flunking out of some aviation ‘A’ school. (None from my classes though.)
Report Post »Yorzaxt
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:41pmWe are all spoiled in the USA. Other than a few bad apples, the police here are generally trustworthy. Go to most of the world and that is not the case. Imagine we take a few hundred of the nastiest people we can find in our jails, rapists, extortionists, thugs, gang members, murderers and give them badges, guns and call them Police. That is what the police force is like in the majority of the world.
Report Post »commonsenseguy
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:31pmsounds familiar, just yesterday the mexican government finally admitted that the police killed and set up an american. so this guy jumped and killed himself?????? B S !!! pray for his family and pray our government restores his honor!!!!
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:23pmthis officer saw or knew something he shouldn’t have and was murdered for it.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:22pmfirst thing we thought is this officer has been set up… and murdered.
Report Post »DagneyT
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:06pmThe military should be investigating who in his squad/battalion/company had an axe to grind and would do this to the guy. It’s obvious his career and his honor meant something to him. God bless him.
Report Post »Bull Dog
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:34pmWhat if his squad did this because they found out he was a homosexual?
Report Post »cykonas
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:28pmThere is something here that’s either not being told, or not yet known. Not sure which. The story, as is, stinketh.
Report Post »SilentReader
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:24pmThis report makes absolutely no sense at all. Why would this Lt. Cmdr. jump if he thought he was set up?
These 3rd world countries don’t abide by the same laws we do. There’s alot of corruption that goes on in them.
Report Post »randy
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:15pmHe thought he had purchased real drugs. Sucks to be him now…
Report Post »hauschild
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:02pmAlso, I can help but wonder how stupid so many people are nowadays because even if he got busted, is a few years of prison time to much to do for God’s sakes? You’re gonna off yourself over that?
Report Post »Into The Night
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:00pmThere’s more to every story…
Report Post »hauschild
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:00pmI love it – he bought fake dope, got busted and killed himself before he could read about himself being a major league idiot.
My goodness, people really need to begin yanking their heads outta their rear ends.
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:25pmHe could buy the drugs here in the US much more easily and not face as much trouble if caught in the PI where the jail time is not survivable. Their jails are some of the worst on this earth. I don’t believe a LCDR would be this stupid esp having served with them throughout my 20 years of service. So ease up a little.
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:29pmYour reachin in the wrong direction. Sorry!
Report Post »Marylou7
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 3:54pmThere has to be much more to this story. Why was he so afraid of the authorities?
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 6:13pmShouldn‘t have off’d himself, but one of the most dangerous places to be for an innocent man is in a court of law. http://guerillatics.com
Report Post »Grace1
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 3:47pmMore to it for sure. I feel for his family.
Report Post »iheartseverus
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 3:46pmWe don’t know the facts yet, of course. But what seems to make sense to me is that he thought that little bag of powder WAS cocaine. He got stiffed by a drug dealer and didn’t know it, so when the search turned up the bag of powder, he truly thought he was busted for cocaine–so he jumped in a desperate effort to escape. My theory, anyway.
Report Post »ozchambers
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:38pmjust what I was thinking and I’m usually correct on such hunches.
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:25pmYour reaching in the wrong direction. Sorry!
Report Post »the_ancient
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 3:42pmEveryone has to remember that Foreign police to not operate under the same rules that ours do, While we have some Freedom Crushing police here in the US, they are NOTHING compared some nations….
So given the very real chance of being beaten or other extreme measures he was probably running to try to get to the embassy so he could be protected until the real story came out
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:21pmYour the closest to what may have happened here. Having connections to the PI I can tell you that a set up is common and used to extort. He may have felt that if they took him into custody then he would not have stood a chance at getting this resolved in his favor. Faced with that and his freedom while he had it, he may have simply panicked and made a break for it. He threw the socalled drugs at them the article states. So he was already losing control and was pissed that this was happening. A LCDR in the Navy is a careerist who saw his career getting blown up right before his eyes and again with this in mind he panicked and wanted to get away from these lying bastards. On the other hand, if he had purchased drugs I seriously do not believe he would attempt to waltz through customs with them in his baggage. Something to think about and it is probably a situation that got out of control and they did not expect him to bolt. The fall should not have killed him and I don’t know why they would call it a suicide other than to take the heat off the corrupt extortonists who are all present at the Manila airport.
My wife was told to take lots of singles ($) to pay all the bribes through customs. She got to one point with several of her large boxes with goods for her relatives and although they had been already searched they wanted to search them again before she could exit the terminal. She coughed up a couple of dollars and was allowed to leave.
Report Post »truthncharity
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 3:38pmI agree with BURNTEYE86….there’s more here than meets the eye…..as it’s presented, this story makes no sense.
Report Post »heavyduty
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 3:36pmHe just didn’t realize that he was that close to the edge. He was jumping for joy. But if he was claiming he was setup. Then Burnteye86 is right there is probably more to it.
Report Post »joseph Fawcett
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 3:36pmI don’t understand why he would jump to his death if he was innocent and knew it. Something is not right with this story, just doesn’t add up at all.
http://www.josephfawcettart.com western artist
Report Post »odefogey
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:39pm“Lt. Cmdr. Scintar Buenviaje Mejia died of head injuries after jumping from a SECOND-FLOOR staircase”
Report Post »It doesn’t sound like he was attempting suicide, rather escape.
Time will reveal.
AzDebi
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:51pmI don’t believe that he purposely jumped with the intent of committing suicide…I’d bet he was trying to escape…probably feared ANOTHER corrupt government possibly setting him up? Who knows…think we’ll get the TRUE story about this?
Report Post »snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:10pmA thought just occured to me; could he have discovered some Al Queda members or such groups had captured him to interrogate for a future attack on a base(s)? So he tried to escape or such to avoid revealing anything of worth?
Report Post »txbigfoot
Posted on December 29, 2010 at 8:57amStop your ads about your art
Report Post »we dont care
firstlast
Posted on December 29, 2010 at 9:55amTXBIGFOOT you dont have to click on the link, you know….
Report Post »burnteye86
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 3:31pmThere’s probably a little more to yhis than meets the eye
Report Post »rpp
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:38pmI agree. Something just does not rig true here.
Report Post »DagneyT
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:07pmAre they going to investigate who put the stuff into his luggage?
Report Post »firstlast
Posted on December 29, 2010 at 9:53amI’m still surious about the white powder…
Report Post »Patriot Z
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 3:30pmdumb ass…sorry if he jumped because he was set up then he is stupid PERIOD.
Report Post »Trance
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:28pmYeah, it‘s far smarter to spend the rest of your life in prison with everyone thinking you’re a disgrace.
Report Post »snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:50pmSomething here is a bit strange. I have to wonder if his ‘jump’ from the second story staircase may not have been assisted, as in a large shove over the side or from behind.
Report Post »eteme
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:25pmYeah I am with Grimm on this one something doesn’t add up here…This guy might have been on the shady side…
Report Post »@leftfighter
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:27pmI think SnowLeopard is closer to the truth here than anyone else.
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:40pmHey Trance,
Report Post »I am guessing that was sarcasm and you are one of those susceptible to what others think to a very large degree. Caring what others think too much makes you prey to politically correct crap and can also get you killed. Wise up! http://guerillatics.com
grandmaof5
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:43pmAgreed, Snowleopard, doesn’t make alot of sense. Hope you had a good Christmas. You got your computer back?
Report Post »walkwithme1966
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 6:39pmOMG – I agree with you on this one – something doesn’t seem right!!
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 6:54pmMaybe he didn’t jump?
Report Post »snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 7:12pm@Grandmaof5
Nice Holidays here, no one bugged me for the most part. My computer is still imitating a modern day peice of abstract art induced with a blowtorch. I have a key to the computer lab though. I manage to keep most of the progressive associates I deal with out of here lately by playing reruns of the Glenn Beck show on my Ipad.
Hopefully the Ipad will not meet with any ‘technical difficulties’ but I love the looks on their faces.
Report Post »aeronut44
Posted on December 28, 2010 at 8:18pmThe Philippine govt would love to have an army officer in jail for the world to see. I think he jumped, and for fake dope…oh well.
Report Post »machogwapo
Posted on December 29, 2010 at 8:08amPatriot Z, in the Philippines the prison sentence for narcotics trafficking is life in prison at a minimum, which is only slightly nicer than say Thailand or Malaysia who have automatic death sentences. Whether the LCdr knew or did not know that the bag was in his luggage, had it been narcotics he was off to prison. I would suspect that he knew it was there, based on his reaction, but undoubtedly, he saw the signs that are prominently posted throughout Ninoy Aquino Int’l Airport that relate to illegal narcotics…
Report Post »HolePuncher
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 9:54pmBeen to that airport many times, those airport screener only make about $200 a month, they will try to make extra money one way or the other. Screener saw he got bundles of $100 bills in the x-ray machine, set him up by putting a a sachet of white powder, this way they can accuse him of having cocaine in his possession, now they got some leverage or excuse to take him to custody, go thru his luggage and find the $30,000 he was carrying. He threw that plastic sachet bag to the screener when he was told he got cocaine with him becasue he got angry he got set-up, he know he did not anything with him. He was flying to Los Angeles, he knows that is a very strict place to go into, and Navy guys get drug tested periodically.
Report Post »They try to extort him for his “freedom” in exchange of some or all of that cash he got, he refuses, he got mad, probably threatened to sue them since he knows his rights, heated exchanges follows, he won’t give in, they found out he is a high ranking Navy officer, one way to silence him was to kill him. He was hand cuffed when 2 guards took him outside to the “toilet”. The 2 escorts, threw him down from the 2nd floor to the first floor head first, he is dead, they probably got some of his cash. Now they say to the reporters “US Navy Officer who got busted with cocaine, jumped to his death” then everybody made fun of this dead guy. He was framed up! He is dead and cannot tell his family or his command the real story. I’ve been to that airport many times, it’s hard to jump when those railing are about 5 ft high and you are in handcuff, those 2 escorts threw him down head first, he did not jump.
MR_ANDERSON
Posted on December 31, 2010 at 2:06amHOLEPUNCHER probably has this the most correct.
In the Philippines foreigners, especially Americans, are seen as wealthy rich with lots of money.
Someone plans to scam him because he is American.
He resists.
After detaining him they find he is in the military. And now they know two things. First, he is screened for drugs on a regular basis, and second the U.S. government will get involved
A proper investigation will happen, and the best chance not to get caught is to kill him so he can’t talk, as they probably offered to let him go if he paid them money.
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