DUMAGUETE CITY -- Police operatives seized illegal drugs with an estimated street value of PHP800,000, bladed weapons, hundreds of cellphones, cash believed to be proceeds of drug sales as well as notebooks containing lists of personalities with payables and collectibles in a greyhound operation conducted at the Negros Oriental Detention and Rehabilitation Center (NODRC) early Thursday morning.
Elements of the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU), Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB), Special Operations Group (SOG), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Special Tactics and Weapons Team (SWAT) and the Provincial Mobile Force Company of the Philippine National Police surprised the more than 468 detainees at 4 a.m. Thursday, including four jail guards on duty, when they conducted the sting operation at the provincial jail here.
Atty. Louie Rastica was designated by Governor Roel Degamo on Wednesday as the acting provincial warden and to coordinate with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the PIB-SOG and other police units for the conduct of the surprise inspection.
Recovered from the ceiling of the chapel were more than 50 grams of suspected shabu, cellphones, tooters, digital weighing scales and other illegal drugs paraphernalia, while more than 30 grams of suspected shabu was also recovered from the dirty kitchen of the women’s dormitory. Cash amounting to PHP106,000 was recovered from the ceiling of the said facility area.
Rastica said he was surprised to witness how the drugs are kept inside the jail, including the other illegal drugs paraphernalia. He said the conduct of the greyhound inspection was "without the knowledge of the jail guards themselves." While the surprise inspection was going on, a mandatory drug testing for the jail guards was conducted.
A jail guard, identified as Artemio Zerna, is also under investigation after the police operatives recovered from him illegal drugs paraphernalia such as empty sachets and residues, as well as financial statements of collectibles from different drug personalities of PHP100,000 to PHP500,000 based on the recovered “blue book” allegedly belonging to him.
Also recovered are deposit slips of certain amounts to “pera padala” or money transfer outlets in Dumaguete.
Rastica said he is “conducting a thorough investigation to determine culpability or participation of jail guards believed to be in cahoots with certain detainees.”
PIB-SOG chief Senior Insp. Armel Von Alegria disclosed the team received a lot of information that one of the sources of illegal drugs is from the NODRC.
In fact, recent arrests would show that “an unnamed source is distributing shabu from inside the jail,” he said.
PDEA agent Fil Tangeres further disclosed the agency is not at all surprised with the results because the information they got is from inmates inside the facility using cellphones of recently arrested individuals.
A test buy was also conducted before the operation was conducted.
Possible repacking is conducted inside due to the presence of the paraphernalia such as scissors, tinfoil, empty sachets, digital weighing scales, among others.
Tangeres said there are big players of the drug trade inside the provincial jail but he refused to name names.
Degamo has directed Rastica to focus on the investigation on how the contraband items were able to get inside the jail and to identify individuals responsible for it.
Meanwhile, a detainee identified as Jonelyn Camanero who is accused of violating provisions of the anti-trafficking act claimed ownership of the money recovered during the greyhound operation.
She said it came from the Chevrolet car she sold to her neighbor in Bacong town, Negros Oriental, and that the balance will be paid this month.
Rastica said an investigation will be conducted, even as the inmate showed acknowledgements of the amount mentioned. (PNA)
