No drugs found in surprise Mandaue City Jail raid

CEBU, Philippines — No illegal drugs were found during a surprise inspection yesterday at the Mandaue City Jail, according to a prison official.

But two cellular phones, ballpens, razor blades, and nails were seized by the operatives from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the Mandaue City Police Office and the Special Weapons and Tactics team during the greyhound operation early dawn yesterday.

The operation started around 4 a.m. and ended at around 7 a.m.

Jail Superintendent Reynante Rubio felt elated that no major contraband items were found inside the jail. The confiscated items were found in the male dormitory.

"I'm very happy wala’y nakuha nga contraband. Five days ago, kada-adlaw mi nag-greyhound. Ganiha (yesterday dawn) finishing touch nalang," Rubio said.

He said illegal drugs cannot easily be slipped into the jail owing to strict security measures.

Also, there has been a proposal to jam mobile phone signals inside the facility to prevent drug-related activities.

Despite the fact that there were no drugs found inside the jail, Mayor Gabriel Luigi Quisumbing earlier said that it is still necessary to have signal jammers in the facility.

He said that without cellular phones, the illegal drugs trade would be eradicated since mobile phones are the main communication devices used in their illegal trade.

The mayor assured though that the installation of the cellular phone signal jammers will not affect the communication of BJMP personnel since they are using radio communication.

Moreover, Rubio warned the jail personnel, inmates and visitors to not even dare sneak in illegal drugs or contraband into the facility, or else they would face legal repercussions.

The facility is only good for 119 inmates but it is now home to 1,864 prisoners. Around 800 of them were detained due to their alleged involvement in illegal drugs.

The Mandaue City Jail has a lot area of 1,164.50 square meters but the area comprising the holding cells is only 557.94 square meters.

The national government already appropriated P42 million for the construction of new city jail. (FREEMAN)