Despite raids, X-ray checks, Bilibid yields 1-kilo ‘shabu’

Authorities seized on Thursday a kilo of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu”—reportedly the biggest amount of drugs found inside the facility—and several firearms during another surprise raid at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

According to NBP head Supt. Richard Schwarzkopf Jr., the drugs were kept in a bag that had been hidden in the ceiling of Dorm 5A at the maximum security compound. Residents of the dorm are members of the Sigue-Sigue Sputnik Gang.

Schwarzkopf said they also found nine sachets of what they believed to be shabu.

“This is the first time we confiscated drugs [of such huge amounts],” he told the Inquirer. A kilo of shabu usually costs around P5 million.

Schwarzkopf said that the shabu “was definitely smuggled” into the facility, adding that they had launched an investigation to determine who was behind it—NBP personnel or inmates.

During Thursday’s raid—the 21st to be conducted since November—authorities also found a 9 mm pistol, a cal. 22 pistol, a .45-caliber pistol, two bullets for a 12-gauge shotgun and electronic gadgets.

“But there aren’t as many [appliances] anymore,” Schwarzkopf pointed out.

Although he said that security measures such as X-ray machines and metal detectors remain in place to prevent prohibited items from being smuggled into the NBP, he acknowledged the need for several prison personnel to undergo training to operate the equipment.

“Especially shabu. That’s one of the things we want to [prevent] from entering [the facility],” Schwarzkopf added.

He said that the surprise raids, which involve hundreds of prison personnel, were apart from the regular searches conducted by a 10-man team.

“The NBP is supposed to house only 6,000 inmates but we have more or less 15,000. [However], we are doing what we can,” Schwarzkopf told the Inquirer.