Around 150 operatives of the Bohol Provincial Police Office searched all 25 jail cells of the Bohol District Jail (BDJ) in a dawn surprise inspection launched after authorities received a tip on a large drug stash inside the facility.
Information acquired by authorities indicated that two kilos of shabu were kept inside the jail prompting police to carry out the greyhound operation, said BDJ warden Chief Insp. Felipe Montejo.
The allegation also pinpointed BDJ as one of the sources of illegal drug supply in the province.
However, no illegal drugs were found inside the facility.
The raid led by various police departments under Supt. Rene Kyamko and Sr. Insp. Jojit Mananquil instead yielded cellphones and bladed weapons.
Pieces of drug paraphernalia were also found inside the BDJ.
For his part, Provincial Board (PB) Member Ricky Masamayor, who witnessed the operation, said that the detainees may have been tipped off on the operation.
According to Masamayor, chair of the PB’s committee on peace and order, one of the confiscated cellphones contained a message alerting one of the inmates of the surprise inspection.
“Bantay kay naay mag swat diha,” the text message reportedly reads.
The message, however, was received at around 4:20 a.m., already 20 minutes after the police search operation started at 4:00 a.m.
Masamayor did not disclose the cellphone owner’s identity as an investigation will still be conducted regarding the text message.
Meanwhile, Montejo noted that the reports on the presence of shabu inside the BDJ is untrue as police who scoured the facility for contraband would have found the said illegal drugs.
The involved detainees would not have been able to dispose of the drugs as the text message alerting them of the raid was received minutes after the operation started, he said. (AD)