It was what authorities in Manila call a 'routine' operation. In the early hours of September 21, undercover agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) clinched a deal to buy 60 Ecstasy tablets from two alleged dealers inside an affluent gated community south of the capital. When the suspects tried to escape by car, the agents shot out the tyres.
The agency also said that cocaine and marijuana were found inside the car. As the agents hauled the two young men away, one of them is said to have informed on a third suspect, leading to his arrest.
But the prize the agents snared may have been bigger than the government bargained for. The case has touched off a string of allegations of bribery in high places, a congressional investigation and two disbarment cases.
The three suspected drug pushers - Richard Brodett, 25, Jorge Joseph, 22, and Joseph Tecson, 27 - are scions of wealthy and influential families. Brodett is the nephew of a close aide to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Mrs Arroyo owns a condominium unit in a building which, unknown to her, was constructed by a property firm in which the Brodett family has a stake.
The PDEA is a special agency created by Congress in 2002 and attached to the Office of the President. But, despite her connections to the Brodetts, Mrs Arroyo personally ordered PDEA chief Dionisio Santiago not to release the three, nicknamed the 'Alabang boys' after the exclusive suburb where they were arrested. 'Don't release them, no matter what, don't let the influential interfere in this case,' Mr Santiago quoted her as telling him on January 20, during an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post. 'That shows you she's hanging tough against illegal drugs,' he added.
The authorities have conceded that the men were small fry in the drug world but the arrests were part of a bigger, and ongoing, operation.