Gov’t doctor, 5 others nabbed in drug sting

Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested Thursday a doctor work­ing for the Department of Health (DoH) and five others during a buy-bust operation in a condo­minium in Mandaluyong City.

In a report submitted to PDEA Director-General Aaron Aquino, the suspects were identified as licensed physician Dr. Vanjoe de Guzman, 44; Keanu Andrea Flores, 21, student; Mark Echauz, 22; Francis Gerald Fajardo, 28, events organizer; Michael Tan, 27; and one alias “Boy Kulot’’.

PDEA agent Art Alagabia of the agency’s special enforcement ser­vice (SES) said De Guzman is a medical officer 4 assigned to the DoH headquarters in Manila.

Previously, De Guzman was stationed at the DoH National Capital Region (NCR) at the Man­daluyong City Hall.

Alagabia said the operation was conducted from 12 a.m. to 1 a.m. at De Guzman’s condominium unit in Barangay Highway Hills.

Director Levi Ortiz of the PDEA SES reported the team seized six pieces of small transparent plastic heat-sealed sachet of shabu, one transparent sachet containing 50 grams of shabu with a street value of R340,000, drug paraphernalia that included improvised pipes and aluminum foil and six bottles of en­ergy drinks.

The raiding PDEA agents said the suspects were injecting liquid shabu in their systems instead of the traditional way of sniffing the smoke from the solid form of the contraband through aluminum foils and “tooters’’.

De Guzman, Flores and Eschauz admitted using illegal drugs but de­nied selling them.

The buy-bust operation at De Guzman’s condo unit was carried out after two months of intense surveillance.

Also, PDEA agents were sur­prised to discover sex videos show­ing naked men and women engage in sex orgy supposedly after their pot session.

In a follow operation, PDEA agents arrested Fajardo, Tan and alias Boy Kulot when De Guzman contacted them through his cell­phone and asked them to proceed to his condo unit where the opera­tives pounced on them.

Fajardo, Tan and alias Boy Ku­lot were allegedly supplying illegal drugs to De Guzman’s group.

Also seized from Fajardo was a piece of heat-sealed transparent sachet of shabu.

The six suspects are now fac­ing cases for violation of Republic Act 9165 otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Act of 2022. (Chito Chavez)