By TROY TORRES, JOHNNIE ROSARIO, & JACOB NAKAMURA with pleasure
(Tumon, Guam) The senator with oversight of public safety agencies is demanding an investigation into allegations of illegal activity by a Customs officer and former member of the Mandana Drug Task Force.
Sources within the Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency have confirmed that on December 11, 2019, Customs Officer I Eugene T. Igros and his partner took over the inspection of an arriving passenger transiting to Saipan, who allegedly was found with meth. Mr. Igros's partner is new to the job and subordinate to him. During the inspection, the two separate drug evidence from non-drug evidence. The drug evidence was placed into a secured area. Mr. Igros took the non-drug evidence to his office and did not process the evidence for six days.
Upon processing, Mr. Igros said he discovered drug evidence among the non -drug evidence - between one to two pounds of meth.
According to the confidential source: "This case is a mess. Who is to say Igros didn't plant those drugs? Did Igros report the entire amount he found? Why is non-drug evidence being secured in his office?
Kandit News Group reached out to Customs Director Ignacio Peredo yesterday for comment on the matter. We also called the director's office earlier this afternoon. At 4:44 p.m., the director's secretary told us that Mr. Peredo would not be in the office until tomorrow, as he had signed for annual leave to be out of the office today. Nonetheless, he had not responded to our inquiry.
Sen. Jose "Pedo" Terlaje, in a statement to Kandit, demanded action from the director. "The force must treat this personnel matter with the utmost professionalism and as a former cop, I don’t take any such matter lightly," Mr. Terlaje said. "I demand that the authorities take whatever investigative steps are necessary to resolve this issue for the benefit of both the community we serve and the accused."
Mr. Igros early last year was removed from the now-defunct Mandana Drug Task Force, as were his other task force colleagues, many of whom have been blacklisted from federal task forces and are themselves the subjects of several criminal, administrative, and civil investigations. Among them are Guam Police officer Jimmy Manglona, who was removed from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency Task Force. His former partner, Guam Police officer Jeremiah DeChavez signed undetermined amounts of U.S. currency to each other following an August 10, 2018 drug raid.
Guam Police officer Chris Champion, one of the more flamboyant ex-members of the task force, has been accused of numerous criminal violations and the violations of Constitutional and civil rights of a number of defendants and victims. GPD has confirmed that Mr. Champion continues to patrol the streets, despite the several complaints made against him.
Guam Police officer Joey Aguon was the belligerent officer caught on camera assaulting a cuffed defendant while other officers stood there and did nothing. Mr. Aguon also was a member of the Mandana team.
Guam Police officer Keane Pangelinan and Port Police officer Kylie Maurer also have been accused of crimes, including the use of a defendant's debit card to purchase food for themselves, and the theft of evidence from crime scenes.
Mr. Igros also is documented as having confiscated scores of grams of meth in a May 2018 raid and did not turn the evidence into the Hagatna evidence locker.
Ms. Igros is the same Customs officer who appealed his suspension from Customs to the Civil Service Commission following the discharge of his service revolver during a stake out and prior to a raid of a Chalan Pago home. According to CSC documents, Mr. Igros somehow managed to 'accidentally' dislodge his gun from its holster, then drop the gun on the ground, then as he retrieved it, 'accidentally' pull the trigger.
He was not part of the team conducting the raid on the home, but was assigned to secure the perimeter. The supervising officer at the scene had to yell for the other officers to take cover, when the gunshot was heard.
Nice warpaint on the lady in the photo. What time is the attack?