Indian, Flipino partner yield P1M worth of ‘party drugs’

BUSTED Pricey drugs are among those seized from Rajiv Gidwani and Jeremiah Alero Carillo during a buy-bust operation at an exclusive subdivision in Muntinlupa City. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

The party’s over for an Indian national and his Filipino accomplice who are accused of selling pricey recreational drugs to Metro Manila’s “high society.”

In a press conference on Monday, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) announced the arrest of Rajiv Gidwani and Jeremiah Alero Carillo in a buy-bust operation on May 25 at Alabang Hills Village in Muntinlupa City.

This was followed by a search of Gidwani’s house in the exclusive subdivision hours later.

PDEA operatives seized suspected illegal drugs worth over P1 million like “kush,” a high-grade type of marijuana; marijuana resin “hashish”; ecstasy tablets and liquid ecstasy or “ketamine,” said the PDEA chief, Director General Aaron Aquino.

“It’s the first time we’ve had a seizure of this kind of marijuana,” Aquino said, referring to kush, which is usually cultivated in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.

Aquino quoted Gidwani as saying that kush was apparently also being grown now in Kalinga. It is then transported to Sagada and Metro Manila.

Big-time clients

“He is one of the big-time suppliers here in the National Capital Region for these types of illegal drugs,” Aquino said. “His clients are celebrities, millennials, affluent families and models—those who are well-off in life—because he’s selling expensive drugs.”

Aquino said that the “more potent” kush was being sold for P1,000 to P1,500 per gram, as opposed to the common marijuana variant that costs only P100 per gram. This meant kush could go from P1 million to P1.5 million per kilogram.

Hashish, which is processed into chocolate-looking substances and originates from Afghanistan, India and Morocco, is worth P20,000 to P25,000 per gram, Aquino said.

On the other hand, the 163 suspected ecstasy tablets were estimated to be worth P417,500, while the two 20-millimeter bottles of ketamine, believed smuggled from India where this was legal, was worth P8,000.

Aquino, who said the PDEA Special Enforcement Service (SES) monitored Gidwani for two months, added that those spotted going to his house were not ordinary people.

“There were also some politicians, celebrities. [They] are now [the] subject [of a] case buildup; also those whose names were on the cell phone of [the suspect],” he said.

Suspect’s father also arrested

Gidwani’s father, Nari Kishinchand, was also arrested on May 26 after he tried to bribe PDEA-SES agents with P1 million to release his son and drop the cases against him.

PDEA-SES Director Levi Ortiz said they were prompted to arrest Kishinchand when, upon being refused by the operatives, he vowed to cause the release of his son by paying off any government official.

Gidwani and Carillo are facing complaints of selling narcotics, conspiring to sell narcotics, possession of dangerous drugs and drug paraphernalia. Gidwani’s father will be charged with trying to corrupt a public officer.