Erring jail personnel will be sent to M’danao

ANY jail personnel caught conniving with an inmate in transacting illegal drugs will be sent to Mindanao as punishment.

This warning came from no less than Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-7 head, Chief Supt. Arnold Buenacosa.

Buenacosa told Cebu Daily News that he will not hesitate to send erring personnel to Mindanao especially those caught helping an inmate make outside calls using cellphones.

The use of cellular phones inside jail facilities is strictly prohibited.

“Itatapon ko talaga sa Mindanao kung malaman kong may kasabwat ‘yung mga inmate na mga jail officers para makatawag,” Buenacosa said.

The warning came after a high-value drug peddler who was arrested in a buy-bust operation on Monday morning, claimed that an inmate at the Cebu City Jail acted as middleman in his drug transactions.

Rinheart Moreno, 29, of Barangay Sambag 2, Cebu City yielded five huge packs of suspected shabu with an estimated street value of P6.5 million.

Buenacosa said he has already formed an investigating team tasked to identify the inmate alleged by Moreno as the middleman and how this person was able to make illegal transactions while inside the prison facility.

“I was wondering why meron paring ganyan na nakakalusot kahit na paulit-ulit ‘yung aming (incidents like this can still happen despite our several) greyhound operations,” Buenacosa said.

Buenacosa is also planning to meet with Abellana Police Station Commander, Chief/ Insp. Maria Theresa Macatangay to get vital information regarding Moreno’s claims.

Members of the Abellana Police were the ones who conducted the buy-bust that resulted to Moreno’s arrest.

Buenacosa said it is important that the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the BJMP work together for the resolution of this case.

Meanwhile, Senior Supt. Royina Garma, head of the Cebu City Police Office said that they are now coordinating with top officials of the Cebu City Jail to help track down Moreno’s cohorts inside the facility.

“May instruction na ako sa investigators to coordinate sa BJMP para malaman natin kung sino ‘yung source ng middle man,” said Garma. (I already instructed our investigators to coordinate with BJMP to identify this middle man)

She added that to help BJMP prevent the smuggling of contraband especially cellular phones inside the city jail, she suggested putting up a police outpost near the penal facility.