Navy Man Nailed With Powder Leaps to Death at Airport

He denied drugs were his; tests find no cocaine
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 28, 2010 3:27 AM CST
Navy Man Nailed With Powder Leaps to Death at Airport
A US Navy officer died after being caught with cocaine in Manila airport   (Shutterstock)

A Los Angeles-bound US Navy officer jumped to his death at the Manila airport after being caught at an X-ray machine with a packet of white power believed to be cocaine in his bags. Tests later showed the packet held no illegal drugs, reports AP. Filipino officials, however, confirmed to local media that the packet contained cocaine. Handcuffed Lt. Commander Scintar Buenviaje Mejia, a 35-year-old Filipino-American, was being escorted to the bathroom by a security guard when he jumped from a second-floor staircase, and died of head injuries. Mejia, who held a diplomatic passport, had denied the packet of powder was his and said he was being set up.
(More Manila stories.)

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