Guns, ammunition, phones seized in Bilibid raid

Authorities of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) have seized firearms, at least 200 pieces of ammunition and mobile phones during its 27th Oplan Galugad.

During Wednesday’s raid, NBP Supt. Richard Schawarzkopf said they confiscated .45-cal., .38-cal. and .22-cal. handguns as well as ammunition.

The items were recovered inside a sock hidden on the ceiling of Building 6, Quadrant 1, which was reportedly used by members of Batang City Jail, one of the many gangs inside the NBP.

Apart from firearms and ammunition, six cellular phones, chargers, television sets, DVD players and electric fans were also seized.

While electric fans and televisions were allowed inside the national penitentiary, Schwarzkopf said it should be used in the common areas of inmates and not in individual cells.

He added that those items should be registered and tagged before being allowed inside.

Schwarzkopf said they had been seeing positive results in their continuing efforts to rid the NBP of contraband, adding that apart from the decreasing number of such items being recovered since Oplan Galugad was launched in November last year, inmates had been voluntarily giving them up.

He said the program would continue in hopes of eradicating contraband and illegal activities inside the prison.

The national penitentiary was opened in 1940 and originally meant to house 8,400 inmates. At present, 14,500 inmates are detained in the NBP’s maximum security compound alone.

The NBP has a total inmate population of 22,800. RC