CEBU CITY—Some personnel of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental have been relieved from their posts following the alleged staging of a mock buy-bust operation last June 28.
PDEA Central Visayas Levi Ortiz ordered the relief of five personnel to pave way for an investigation over a court ruling that anti-narcotics agents in Dumaguete illegally arrested five drug suspects.
Regional Trial Court Judge Amelia Lourdes Mendoza of Branch 34 cited a footage of a security camera, showing that the five suspects were actually picked up from different places, and were not arrested in a single buy-bust operation.
The court dismissed the case against the five suspects.
The five anti-narcotics agents were transferred to the PDEA Regional office pending the conduct of administrative and criminal investigations.
Ortiz said it was Director General Wilkins Villanueva, who ordered to have the five personnel be placed under camp restriction.
“The regional office was not remiss in its job to remind them that our campaign against illegal drugs will be aggressive and relentless but within the bounds of the law,” said Ortiz.
Ortiz warned that the PDEA 7 will not tolerate any illegal act by its personnel.
“Let this be a lesson to them that we will spare no one in this kind of incident,” said Ortiz.