CONNIVANCE BETWEEN GUARDS AND VISITORS EYED IN SHABU SMUGGLING AT CEBU CITY
JAIL

CEBU CITY - An investigative team that looked into the discovery of 355
decks of "shabu" inside the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC), the
city jail, has smelled connivance between some jail guards and people
visiting inmates in the facility.

Based on the initial finding of the jail oversight committee task force,
which investigated the incident last Sept. 10 when authorities found the
decks of shabu hidden in a mass of human waste stored in a drum at the
toilet of the BBRC, there was connivance between some jail guards and the
visitors who carried the contraband.

Gregorio Bacolod, head of the task force, however, said the team found it
hard to get evidence because no one was willing to execute an affidavit.

He also said that the findings could not be concluded yet at present as he
asked Vice Mayor Michael Rama to give his group another week to submit the
final report.

The main problem bugging the task force, so far, is the difficulty of
getting sworn statements from witnesses to substantiate the claim of
connivance, Bacolod said.

As this developed, there are plans to solve the illegal activities at BBRC
by changing the people manning it and reforming the system of operations.

Bacolod had earlier recommended a top-to-bottom revamp of BBRC officials,
suggesting further that 70 percent of new officials, including blue guards,
should come from Cebu City.

But the city government insisted on having direct participation in the
screening of new jail officers and guards before transferring some 1,700
inmates from BBRC to the new jail in barangay Kalunasan.

Last Sept. 10, at least 351 small packs of "shabu" and several bladed
weapons were seized when city officials conducted "Operation Greyhound" in BBRC

The illegal drugs and paraphernalia were discovered inside a makeshift
septic tank of BBRC's Brigada Dos.

The inmates allegedly threw the packs of shabu into the makeshift septic
tank upon the sight of the approaching authorities.

The operation was conducted after the Police Coordinating and Advisory
Council (PCAC) of the Cebu City Hall held a meeting and decided to proceed
to the BBRC to check reports of rampant illegal drug trade in the jail.

The early-morning operation caught off guard several inmates, jail guards
and BBRC warden Supt. Nestor Velasquez who denied knowledge of the illegal
drug trade.