FACTS:
A buy-bust team was dispatched to entrap appellant Rogelio Abugatal, a plan made on the strength of a tip given by a police informer. After witnessing the exchange, two policemen approached appellant and placed him under arrest, at the same time confiscating the wrapped object he gave the poseur-buyer. Upon prodding, appellant Abugatal led the police to the house of his co-accused Enrile where he identified the latter as the source of the marijuana. Appellant Enrile was frisked and the marked money was found inside his front pocket.
ISSUE(S):
Whether or not appellant Enrile’s warrantless arrest and search was justified.
HELD:
NO. The policemen who later arrested Enrile at his house had no personal knowledge that he was the source of the marijuana. The discovery of the marked money on him did not mean he was caught in the act of selling marijuana. The marked money was not prohibited per se. Even if it were, that fact alone would not retroactively validate the warrantless search and seizure.
