Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Fil-Am who committed suicide negative for drugs

Was it a case of desperation or death before dishonor?  
In what I initially viewed as a sad case there is now a new twist.  It seems that LCDR Scintar Mejia, USN, did not have drugs in his possession.  I can now imagine his complete and total despair at being accused of having drugs in his possession because he could clearly see that no matter the outcome of the investigation, his career in the United States Navy was clearly going to end.  When he arrived in Manila to visit his extended family he did so as one who is a hero.  He had not only done well in the United States but had become an officer in the military which was a most honorable accomplishment.  In his mind I'm certain that he could see that all that he had sacrificed for was being torn away from his grasp.  Instead of honor he was faced with guilt by suspicion at best or, at worst, dishonor and jail.

Was Mejia a drug user as confirmed by a post-mortem toxicology screen?  Was the sachet of powder in his bag, now known to be just powder and not a drug, a joke planted by a relative jealous of his accomplishments?  Was it placed there to take him down a notch or two from his perch of honor?  Or was it merely something slipped into the bag through slight of hand right there at the Manila airport with the idea of extracting a healthy bribe?  We will probably never know now that Mejia in a fit of total desperation threw himself into a stairwell thus ending what appears to have been a promising life.  Any of the above is a possibility but none of the above are certain.

Suicide is never easy to explain but in this case, it appears that the wrongful accusation of a poorly trained airport security inspector played a significant role.  I can only hope that the results of the investigation are fully aired.

Follow the link for the story.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Because there was money involved in this incident an amount 0f $30,000.00USD (1.3++Million Pesos) the PNP-AVSEGROUP made it looking like a Drugbust and a suicide to cover-up for their motive of stealing the money and to cover their criminal activities!

The next day, the Philippine National Police-Aviation Security Group's (PNP-AVSEGROUP) reported that Mejia jumped from the balcony of its office as he was allegedly escaping from a police guard. Police said the balcony is 10 feet from the ground( they made it looking like suicide to protect their criminal activities )!

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said on Tuesday that the powdery substance seized from Filipino-American Naval officer Lt. Commander Scintar Mejia was not an illegal drug.

"Laboratory examinations on specimens seized from Fil-Am naval officer gave NEGATIVE results for the presence of dangerous drugs," the PDEA said in a press release.

Anonymous said...

The next day, the Philippine National Police-Aviation Security Group's (PNP-AVSEGROUP) reported that Mejia jumped from the balcony of its office as he was allegedly escaping from a police guard. Police said the balcony is 10 feet from the ground.

Because there was money involved in this incident an amount of $30,600.00USD( 1.3++Million Pesos )the PNP-AVSEGROUP made it looking like a drugbust and a suicide incident to make a cover-up for their motive of stealing the MONEY!!!

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said on Tuesday that the powdery substance seized from Filipino-American Naval officer Lt. Commander Scintar Mejia was not an illegal drug.

"Laboratory examinations on specimens seized from Fil-Am naval officer gave NEGATIVE results for the presence of dangerous drugs," the PDEA said in a press release

Papa Bill said...

If what you say is true, and with my experience in the Philippines I've no reason to doubt it, then there has been a serious breech of the public trust. There is a special place in Hell for those who are supposed to serve the public good but use their position to cover their criminal activities. We must understand that no society is immune from corruption in law enforcement. The differentiating factor between First World nations and Third World Nations is the governmental and societal response to such corruption. In this case, if your comment is true, regardless of how Lt. Commander Mejia went over that balcony, the perpetrators are as guilty of murder as they would be if they had put a pistol to his head and pulled the trigger for they consciously destroyed a man for monetary gain. That is unforgivable.

I've seen a report where the toxicology report from the autopsy indicated that there were no drugs in Mejia's system. That lends significant credence to what you say as that would show that he was not a drug user. We await the Philippine Government's response.