Former Guyana Health Minister Arrested In US

LONG ISLAND, New York CMC – Former Guyana Health Minister, Dr. Noel Blackman, has been refused bail after he was arrested at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, on Sunday, as part of investigations by US law enforcement authorities into the illegally writing of scores of prescriptions for a narcotic-based painkiller.

Dr. Blackman, 68, who is also the Chairman of the Georgetown Hospital Corporation, was considered a flight risk by U.S. Magistrate, Anne Shields, and ordered held, pending future hearings.

When he appeared in court on Monday, Dr. Blackman was not required to enter a plea to the charge of conspiracy to distributing oxycodone.

US officials said that his secretary, Eva Torres, 31, of the Bronx, was also arrested on the same narcotics conspiracy charges and appeared in court for her arraignment, on Monday. She also was not required to enter a plea, but was released on US$50,000 bond.

The former minister was arrested late Sunday at Kennedy Airport, with the US law enforcement authority suspecting him of illegally prescribing vast amounts of oxycodone — 365,000 pills in 2015 — in a drug-dealing enterprise spanning three states.

Media reports said, the 68-year old former Guyanese, who served as a minister during the Desmond Hoyte administration, was taken off of a Guyana-bound jet at the airport and taken into custody.

The jet was taxiing for take-off, with Dr. Blackman aboard, when it was forced to return to an airport terminal by FBI agents.

Until his arrest, Dr. Blackman had practiced surgery and pain management from offices in the United States.