CPDRC to sack guards in illegal drug trade deal

Jail guards who are found conniving with inmates in the proliferation of illegal drugs at the provincial jail will be dismissed from service, a jail official said yesterday.

Members of the task force organized by the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) will meet today to discuss measures to stop the illegal drug problem at the facility.

The task force was organized following last Tuesday’s search conducted by the police.

The operation yielded more than P200,000 worth of illegal drugs, drug sniffing paraphernalia, bladed weapons, cash and betting items for the illegal numbers game swertres, which is patterned after the swertres be- ing promoted by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

At least 27 cellular phones were also confiscated during the jail search. These will be checked by the Provincial Intelligence Branch to trace the inmates’ transactions outside the jail.

Apart from the removal of some jail guards, the task force will also discuss, among other matters, the proposal to abolish the jail’s canteen where the illegal drugs were found.

Police operatives found the suspected shabu in an egg tray at the jail’s canteen. No contraband was taken from the cell of alleged drug lord Alvaro “Barok” Alvaro.

Acting CPDRC warden Roberto Legaspi believed that the ille- gal drug trade proliferates in the facility because some jail guards have allegedly allowed high-profile drug detainees to smuggle the contraband.

He said that the same jail personnel are also behind the illegal numbers game operation inside the facility.

Legaspi, however, declined to identify the jail personnel allegedly involved in the illegal operations.

The jail official said that he wants more police officers to secure the jail that will not only be posted at the CPDRC entrance but to guard the inmates as well.

After the operation last Tuesday, the CPDRC suspended the visitation privileges for inmates./