Shabu, bladed weapons seized from Cebu jail cell; inmate isolated

The Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Cebu City (CDN FILE PHOTO / JUNJIE MENDOZA)

CEBU CITY — Cash, mobile phones, bladed weapons and six grams of shabu were seized during a “mini”-operation conducted on the provincial jail early Sunday after jail officials received a tip about an inmate who managed to smuggle in drugs inside his cell.

Bobby Legaspi, officer in charge of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) said the contraband items were seized from Cell No. 73 following a raid at about 5:30 a.m. on April 2.

He said the raid stemmed from a call he received from a concerned citizen that inmate Emmanuel Lapus smuggled in shabu into his cell.

A raid was conducted on Cell No. 73 where Lapus was one of the occupants and law enforcers found a total of P25,200 cash in different denominations, 10 mobile phones, a DVD player, a pocket wifi, makeshift bladed weapons, and shabu weighing about 6.75 grams.

Legaspi said on Monday that he was still verifying the exact number of inmates inside Cell No. 73 but there were at least 32 inmates in one cell.

He said they had suspended visitation privileges for inmates of Cell No. 73 while Lapus has been placed in isolation.  SFM