AUTHORITIES found contraband in the hospital room where former Medellin mayor Ricardo Ramirez was staying during a surprise search on Wednesday morning, February. 20.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) 7 personnel seized bottles of imported liquor, reams of cigarettes, lighters, cellular phones, wireless chargers, deck of cards and a portable speaker.
These items are not allowed inside a hospital's premises and rooms.
Ramirez has been in hospital arrest for more than a year at the Bogo-Medellin Medical Center.
The search happened simultaneously with the greyhound operation of BJMP 7 at the Medellin District Jail.
Personnel of the Philippine National Police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 joined the search that started at 6 a.m. and ended at 9:30 a.m. in the cells of male and female inmates.
Inmates' medicines and multivitamins were found by the personnel.
Ramirez was subjected to a drug test by the PDEA 7, but it yielded a negative result.
Medellin District Jail Warden Corazon Noel will investigate the jail officers, who guarded Ramirez in the hospital.
The jail officers will be asked to explain why they failed to prevent the entry of the contraband in Ramirez's room.
Noel said they are very strict in implementing the jail facility's rules and regulations.
A doctor will be consulted to determine if Ramirez can be transferred to a regular jail cell.
Meanwhile, suspected drug lord Alvaro "Barok" Alvaro has been moved to another cell at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), following the confiscation of P2.5 million worth of suspected shabu and the arrest of 12 persons in Danao City.
In an interview, CPDRC legal officer William Boco said Alvaro was transferred to an isolated cell Wednesday morning, Feb. 20, after an initial investigation revealed that the small-time peddlers in Danao City have contacts in the facility in Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City.
"Barok will stay there for now because if there really is involvement outside through communication, isolating him will make monitoring and controlling easier," he said.
Alvaro is sharing the cell with Jimmy Largo, the gunman of slain Ermita village chief Felicisimo “Imok” Rupinta.
Boco stressed that CPDRC has been “99.9 percent” free of any illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia, based on their last three greyhound operations last Jan. 31, Feb. 7 and yesterday morning.
The greyhound operation on Wednesday morning only yielded a cellphone and phone accessories from cells 1, 2, 3, 110, 111, and 112. A cellphone, though, was also confiscated from Alvaro last Jan. 27.
Boco said they also discovered that Alvaro has been spending most of his time in cell 111, where most of his peers are detained, instead in his designated cell at cell 1.
Cells 1 to 35 on the lower level and cells 68 to 98 on the upper level of the CPDRC male dormitory are for inmates with drug-related cases, while cell 111 are for those facing firearms and/or drug-related cases.
Boco said each cell can house an average of 26 to 31 inmates at a time.
Alvaro surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation in Bohol on June 21, 2016, four days after he escaped from a police shootout that killed another suspect.
Alvaro was said to have been based in Danao City and had eluded previous operations by the police. / RTF/ FROM AYB OF SUPERBALITA CEBU, RTF / KAL