Shabu found inside South Cotabato jail

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Authorities seized at least 15 sachets of suspected shabu inside a cell at the South Cotabato Rehabilitation and Detention Center in Koronadal City during a surprise inspection Sunday night.

Felicito Gumapac, acting jail warden, said Monday the illegal drugs were found hidden inside several pipes that were used as clothesline by inmates in cell number 16 during a surprise "greyhound operation."

Gumapac said they conducted the inspection in coordination with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Region 12 after receiving information from several inmates regarding the presence of shabu at the cell.

"We located them at the same spot identified by our sources," he said in an interview over Brigada News FM in Koronadal City.

The inspection started at 5 p.m. and lasted for two hours, he added.

Gumapac said they are investigating the 118 inmates of the cell to determine the owner of the seized shabu and how it was sneaked into the facility.

The "greyhound operation" on Sunday was the second at the provincial jail in the last two weeks.

In the first operation, jail personnel confiscated at least three sachets of shabu in cell number 09 while 58 inmates turned out positive for drug use in random tests.

Gumapac, who was appointed acting warden last month by newly-assumed South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., said the illegal activity might have been going on at the jail for some time now.

Among the security measures the jail management has put in place is the heightened monitoring of visitors to prevent the possible entry of illegal drugs and other contraband, he said.

Gumapac assured that more "greyhound operations" and random drug tests among inmates will be conducted as part of the continuing "cleansing" of the provincial jail. (With a report from Alejandro Saludo/PNA)