By Gigi Muñoz David

Brazilian national Sandra Carvalho, 45, estranged wife of Chinese-Filipino businessman Henry Ocier, is facing charges for alleged possession of illegal drugs after yielding suspected marijuana at a police checkpoint Thursday late afternoon in Pasig City.

Investigation showed that Carvalho, of 7 Oliva St., Valle Verde 4, Barangay Ugong, was driving a gold Ford Lynx (XCU-790) to a supermarket accompanied by a maid when stopped on Julia Vargas St. by members of the Eastern Police District-special operations unit.

Supt. Francisco Dungo, unit head, reported that inspection yielded two marijuana sticks and a metal tube containing suspected marijuana leaves on top of the dashboard and under the driver’s seat.

Chief Supt. Lino Calingasan, district director, in a text message to Standard Today said he has ordered a check with the Immmigration bureau on her status.

Carvalho, who was dubbed “Brazilian Marimar,” got entangled in a custody case with Ocier over their three sons in 2003.

Her troubles started in 1994 when her spouse threw her out of their San Juan residence due to an undisclosed domestic feud.

At the district headquarters, Standard Today was able to talk to Carvalho inside Dungo’s office.

“I don’t have anything to do with it,” she said, referring to what police claimed to have found inside her vehicle.

“I don’t have a car. In case I need one, I only borrow.”

Police verification with the Land Transportation Office showed that the 2001 model Lynx is registered under Sunshine Properties Inc., bearing Carvalho’s address.

Carvalho has been staying in the country for more than 18 years awaiting court decision on the annulment case filed by her husband.

In 2003, she appeared in a Senate hearing held by Senator Francisco Pangilinan, chairman of the committee on justice and human rights, taking up the custody of her minor children and alleged harassment by Immigration agents.

Records show that Carvalho was detained three times by the bureau but the first was deemed flawed because the mission order used was expired; the second involved a bail order for her benefit which a commissioner had kept in his drawer.

Police have filed charges against her yesterday before the Pasig City prosecutor’s office for possession of illegal drugs.