2nd NBI raid yields Bilibid VIP’s P100K, Bluetooth

Bundles of cash—plus a wireless communication gadget—continued to be found at the detention quarters of the high-profile inmates recently transferred from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters.

After an inspection on Dec. 29 found some P700,000 in cash hidden in garbage bins and toilet tanks, a second inspection conducted Sunday night yielded more cash amounting to P100,000 and a Bluetooth earpiece, according to an NBI source.

The source, who declined to be named for lack of clearance to speak to the media, said the cash and gadget allegedly belonged to drug convict Peter Co.

“This was according to our informant but he (Co) strongly denied it,” the source told the Inquirer Tuesday.

The Bluetooth may have enabled Co to stay in touch with associates who “we assume are communicating from areas near the NBI compound” on Taft Avenue, Manila, the source added.

Aside from the P700,000 cash, the Dec. 29 inspection at the Bilibid inmates’ NBI quarters also yielded four mobile phones.

Co was one of the 19 NBP inmates transferred to the NBI after a Dec. 15 raid led by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima found them living in luxury at the national penitentiary, their cells equipped with a jacuzzi, a power generator, high-tech appliances, Internet connection and even studio recording systems. Five Bilibid officials have since been sacked.

Co and another convicted drug lord, Amin Imam Boratong, later questioned their transfer to the NBI in court.