Despite the number of contraband items seized inside the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) during Friday morning’s greyhound operation, police assured illegal drug activity inside the jail facility has been decreasing.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) Head for Operations Earl Rallos said illegal drug use among inmates inside CPDRC has dwindled based on the amount of drugs confiscated on Friday compared to previous raids.
“We have noticed that there has been a significant decrease of the contraband confiscated,” he said.
Supt. Mario Baquiran Jr. chief of the Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMFC) said they have seized at least 41 sachets weighing about 1.23 grams of white crystalline substance believed to be shabu, with an estimated value of P11,000.
Baquiran said this is a big difference to the P23,000 amount of drugs seized during their previous greyhound operation.
Among the seized contraband items were drug paraphernalia, cellphones, mobile chargers, sharp objects, packs of cigarettes and money totalling P93,388 from the inmates’ canteen.
CPDRC Acting Warden Roberto Legaspi said he will send a recommendation to Governor Hilario Davide III, who is the Jail Warden of CPDRC, to suspend the visitation rights of inmates.
“We are really doing our best to stop contrabands coming in,” he said.
The greyhound operation was a collaboration of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMFC), Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB), Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Task Force Cebu.
Meanwhile, PIB Chief Supt. Rene Kiamko said the 51 cellphones confiscated will be turned over to the Philippine National Police-Anti Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG-7) for further investigation.
He said the PNP-ACG-7 team will assess if there was any communication from inmates to someone outside of CPDRC for illegal drug transaction.