‘Druggie’ nabbed months after skirting P1.9M drug bust

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Several months after dodging a police anti-narcotics sting, a suspected drug dealer was arrested on the evening of Feb. 27 in Dumangas, Iloilo.

Errol Dorego, 38, a resident of Barangay Jardin, Dumangas, was taken into custody while walking through Dacutan village.

The Dumangas Municipal Police Station, in conjunction with the Iloilo Police Provincial Office – Provincial Intelligence Unit (IPPO-PIU) and the Maritime Police Station, carried out the arrest.

Dorego was apprehended under an arrest warrant for violating Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002), docketed under Criminal Case Number 24-11126.

The warrant was issued by Judge Vicente Go of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) 6, Branch 68, Dumangas, Iloilo, on Jan. 16, 2024, and no bail was set for his release.

Major Kenn Albert Lepsia, the Dumangas police chief, credited the suspect’s arrest to the assistance provided by his family to the police authorities.

Dorego’s apprehension resulted from a buy-bust operation carried out in the early hours of Nov. 1, 2023.

During this operation, members of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit (RPDEU) 6 and the Dumangas Municipal Police Station arrested his brother, Romar, 39, and a student named Mark, both from Barangay Jardin, Dumangas.

The two were allegedly caught selling a sachet of suspected shabu for P15,500.

Authorities recovered 18 additional sachets of suspected shabu, valued at P1,904,000, along with P1,000 in cash, a mobile phone, and illegal drug paraphernalia from their possession.