Another Tinga syndicate member convicted on drug raps

Another member of the notorious Tinga drug syndicate which used to operate in Taguig City and was arrested by undercover agents for drug trafficking has been sentenced has been sentenced to reclusion perpetua or imprisonment for at least 30 years. (Photo: Katrina Javier/Flickr)

MANILA—Another member of the notorious Tinga drug syndicate which used to operate in Taguig City and was arrested by undercover agents for drug trafficking has been sentenced has been sentenced to reclusion perpetua or imprisonment for at least 30 years.

In a 32-page court decision released on Feb. 21, 2017, Judge Antonio Olivete of the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 267 found Elisa “Ely” Tinga guilty beyond reasonable doubt for selling PHP5,000 worth of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride).

Besides imprisonment, Tinga was also ordered by the court to pay a fine of PHP500,000. On a separate charge, the court also meted out a guilty verdict against Tinga for illegal possession of prohibited drugs and sentenced her to imprisonment between 10 to 15 years. Convicted with Tinga were her cohorts Andrea Escalante and Daniel Datinggaling.

The court ordered the immediate transfer of Tinga and Escalante from the Taguig City Jail – Female Dormitory to the custody of Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) located in Mandaluyong City while Datinggaling was ordered to be transported to the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

The case against Tinga stemmed from a buy-bust operation conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), District Anti-Illegal Drugs – Southern Police District (DAID-SPD) and the Taguig City Police in July 2012 along Kalayaan Street in Brgy. Ususan, Taguig City.

During the entrapment operation, one of the undercover agents disguised as potential buyer of shabu handed Tinga PHP5,000 in exchange for a small plastic sachet containing white crystalline substance. She was arrested on the spot. Laboratory analysis revealed that the confiscated substance was shabu.

Tinga was the third most wanted person in the list of the illegal drug distributors in Taguig at the time of her arrest. She is the seventh member of the Tinga Drug Syndicate nabbed by the authorities since 1996. She is the wife of Noel Tinga who is reportedly the cousin of former Taguig City Mayor Freddie Tinga.

In September last year, Joel Tinga, another member of the Tinga Drug Syndicate, was also sentenced to reclusion perpetua for selling illegal drugs. There are still six other members of the syndicate, all bearing the surname Tinga, who are currently facing drug charges.