‘Shabu’ seized in raid on jail inside police camp

Acting on reports of illegal drug transactions inside a jail at Camp Bagong Diwa, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Monday conducted a surprise search that yielded around 70 sachets of suspected “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) among other contraband.

Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde, acting NCRPO director, said the police and jail operatives also recovered records containing Chinese characters and what seemed to be bank account details during the Oplan “Galugad” operation at the Metro Manila District Jail inside the police camp in Taguig City.

Together with the Bureau of Immigration, the NCRPO and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology searched the immigration jail, where they found casino chips, about 50 cell phones and several laptop computers.

“We received reports that there are (drug) transactions being conducted, particularly in the cell of Chinese inmates. We were able to recover a list although we could not decipher it yet, but it contains figures and there are cell phones with Chinese characters so we would have these verified,” Albayalde told reporters.

The search also yielded an undetermined amount of cash, drug paraphernalia, bladed weapons, television sets and game boards.

According to Albayalde, it seemed that the setup was similar to the New Bilibid Prison where deals were conducted inside the facility while transactions were completed outside.

“We conducted an Oplan Galugad to prevent these transactions from proliferating. It’s embarrassing because this is a PNP (Philippine National Police) camp,” he said.