Dozens of shabu sachets, drug kits seized in Cebu City Jail

CEBU CITY, Philippines –  After 3 years of President Rodrigo Duterte’s popular but bloody anti-drug campaign, the jail here continues to struggle in its fight to flush out drugs circulating behind bars, after dozens of drug-storing sachets were confiscated in a raid on Saturday, February 29.

“The drugs we seized here only shows that we really have a problem,” Cebu City Jail Superintendent Julius Arro said in Filipino in an interview while the raid was ongoing.

His team conducted the raid with cops from the Central Visayas Regional Police Office led by its chief Brigadier General Albert Ferro, who was the former chief of the Philippine National Police’s Drug Enforcement Group.

Their operation yielded 56 sachets of suspected shabu (methamphetamine), P140,941.75 in cash, 193 pieces of drug paraphernalia, 17 syringes, 141 mobile phones, bladed weapons, and spider skimmers.

The seized items point to a continuing flow of contraband inside the jail, which has over 5,000 inmates.

Arro said that they are looking into drug connections outside the jail, but for good measure, he has also ordered for the investigation of jail guards who may have been negligent or complicit in the smuggling of contraband.

Ferro said that the items will be brought to their regional headquarters for disposal, while the drugs will be sent to their crime laboratory to confirm their authenticity. – Rappler.com