No drugs seized at Negros Occidental District Jail

AUTHORITIES have not recovered illegal drugs during their greyhound operation at the Negros Occidental District Jail (NODJ) in Bago City on Sunday, December 8.

Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) Director Police Colonel Romeo Baleros said the operation intends to prove allegations made by one of the recently arrested drug suspects that he got his supply of illegal drugs at the facility.

During the search, the police and Bureau and Jail Management (BJMP) personnel only recovered television sets, DVD players, mobile phones, portable lighters, shanks and other bladed weapons only.

Baleros said the seized phones will be examined.

He recommended to the NODJ to ban portable lighters in the prison premises as it could be used to sniff illegal drugs such as shabu.

NODJ Warden Jail Senior Inspector Norberto Meciano, meanwhile, said they have adopted a stricter entry of visitors inside the jail facility.

In November 2019, Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer confirmed that an inmate inside the NODJ has been using the facility as a “command center” for their illegal drug operations.

“We discussed certain measures that will be implemented at NODJ but it is classified so I cannot reveal it in public,” Ferrer earlier said.

The vice-governor noted that while he does not know what drug syndicate the inmate in question is connected with, he confirmed that the individual has “wide machinery” and is linked to a “Chinese drug syndicate.”

This is an ongoing investigation, Ferrer added.

It can be recalled that a total P7.3 million worth of shabu, weighing more than one kilogram, was seized along South Capitol Road in Bacolod City from Ronaldo Roquero Jr. of Talisay City in November 2019.

Police Lieutenant Thurslie Castillo, head of the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit-Negros Occidental (RDEU) in Negros Occidental, said Roquero can be considered a provincial-level high-value target because of the volume of drugs recovered.

The suspect told police the seized items were sourced from Manila and he was tasked to distribute across the province allegedly by two NODJ inmates.

The RDEU official added that Roquero linked suspected drug lord Michael Divinagracia to their illegal drug transactions but did not elaborate on his role.

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