Agents from the National Capital Region Police Office and the Bureau of Immigration confiscate mobile phones, laptops, cigarettes, and other prohibited items inside the detention facility for foreigners in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City on Tuesday, January 31, 2023. (Photo from National Capital Region Police Office)
MANILA, Philippines — Gadgets, cigarettes and at least half a million worth of cash were among the prohibited items seized by authorities inside the Bureau of Immigration’s warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City on Tuesday.
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said mobile phones, laptops, internet routers, cords, cigarettes and more than P500,000 cash were confiscated during an “Oplan Greyhound” raid in the detention center at around 2 a.m.
“Further, a surprise drug test was also conducted on the personnel of the Bureau of Immigration detention facility by the Forensic Group – Southern Team,” it said in a statement.
Quoting its chief Maj. Gen. Jonnel Estomo, the NCRPO said the operation intends to bolster the “detention’s security and orderliness at the facility.”
“This, according to him (Estomo), is one of the security measures being implemented to ensure the safety of all the personnel, occupants, visitors, detained/on-hold persons and tenants inside the camp,” it added.
Sneaking in prohibited items into jail and detention facilities is a perennial problem in the country.
Just last November, a massive volume of beer and crystal meth–locally known as shabu–was confiscated inside the maximum security compound of the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa.