GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Joint operatives seized suspected illegal drugs and other contraband in a raid early Monday in several cells inside the Lanton Reformatory Center or city jail here.
Jail Chief Insp. Jesus Singson, city jail warden, said the illegal items were recovered during surprise inspections on four cells that housed inmates who were facing various illegal drug charges.
He said the inspection was conducted at “brigadas” (cells) 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the jail’s building 01, which is also known as “Barangay Makatao.”
The joint “operation greyhound,” which was joined by elements from the Army-led Joint Task Force (JTF) GenSan, General Santos City Police Office and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Region 12, started before midnight on Sunday and lasted until Monday morning.
Seized during the raid were at least 68 deadly weapons like ice picks and knives, 24 mobile phones with chargers, 13 small sachets and a small pack of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, PHP12,000 cash and drug paraphernalia.
Singson said they launched the operation after receiving information that suspected shabu and various contraband have entered anew the jail facility.
He said they immediately coordinated the matter with the PDEA-12, city police and the JTF GenSan for the launching of surprise inspections.
“This is a product of concerted efforts, especially the sharing and gathering of information with our partners,” he said in an interview over Brigada News FM here.
Based on their initial investigation, the official said the illegal items might have entered the facility through visitors of some inmates.
He said the illegal drugs were reportedly smuggled through the “private parts” of female visitors.
Singson said they have been conducting thorough inspections, including strip searches, on visitors but noted that they only rely on the “visibility” of the items.
“These are visual searches and we cannot touch these visitors. So it’s possible that some of them exploited this process and were able to sneak in some illegal items,” he said.
He assured that the jail management has been doing everything to ensure the “zero entry” of contraband at the facility and cited that they already arrested some female visitors in the past who tried to bring in some prohibited materials.
As to the possibility that some jail personnel could be involved in the illegal activities, Singson said they are also seriously looking into the matter.
He said his office will formally request for a formal investigation by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-Region 12.
For his part, Gil Cesario Castro, PDEA-12 director, said they will investigate the entries at the recovered cellphones to trace possible illegal drug transactions involving some of the inmates.
He said some of the cellphones could have been used in money transfers, specifically using wire transfer services like “Smart Padala” and “Pera Padala.”
Castro added that they will conduct a deeper investigation to determine the owners of the recovered suspected shabu.
(AVE/PNA)
