AN ESTIMATED P2 million worth of illegal drugs were discovered on February 2, 2021 in cleaning materials donated by a religious organization to the Davao City Jail-Male Dormitory (DCJ-MD).
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Davao Region recovered 26 pieces of square-shaped transparent plastic sachets containing substance believed to be shabu wrapped in packing tape, three tubular pipes, and a rectangular-shaped transparent plastic sachet containing marijuana fruiting tops.
The recovered pieces of evidence have an estimated worth of P2,080,000.
BJMP Jail Senior Inspector Ellen Rose Garcia said the donation was made last December 19, 2020 but it was not distributed immediately because it could not cover the whole number of cells at the BJMP.
The materials were instead placed in the stockroom for final inspection before distributing these to the persons deprived of liberty (PDLs). Their office, however, received intelligence reports recently that the donation contained contraband, thus they immediately inspected the items.
"We opt not to release muna (yet) the names of the suspect and their affiliated organization for reasons of presumption of innocence and the source of the presumed illegal drugs are still under investigation," Garcia said.
She clarified, however, that the religious organization is not a constant partner of the BJMP in rendering religious services.
"We only accepted the donation kasi (because) in the spirit of Christmas but of course, hindi namin dini-distribute ang mga bagay na di pa namin na-inspect (we don't distribute the things we have not done inspecting)," she said.
Garcia also said that according to their protocol, the donated items should be inspected upon receipt, thus they are now conducting administrative investigation to determine if there were lapses in the side of the DCJ-MD.
"Anybody found liable will be prosecuted accordingly," she said.
As of the meantime, she said, the BJMP-Davao will be more vigilant and strengthen their intelligence monitoring so that no contraband could sneak inside the Davao jails.
Last December 2020, the bureau also apprehended illegal drugs inside packs of noodles worth around P1.8 million donated by another religious organization.
Meanwhile, the confiscated contraband has been turned over to the Philippine National Police-Davao for further testing at the crime laboratory and the name of the person/s who donated the items were already recorded for further legal procedures.