By Aaron Recuenco
Director General Ronald dela Rosa, former national police chief and now the head of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), disclosed today there are repeated attempts by convicted drug lords and erring jail personnel to expel police commandos at the National Bilibid Prisons (NBP).
Bureau of Corrections chief, Ret. Gen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa (Czar Dancel/Manila Bulletin)
In a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City, dela Rosa said the attempts to discredit commandos of the Special Action Force (SAF) guarding the NBP was deliberately being done long before he assumed the top BuCor post.
“There is a connivance between the convicted drug lords and NBP personnel earning from drug trade inside to discredit our SAF because their presence has been affecting their trade,” said dela Rosa after the anniversary of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group.
“They want to expel the SAF for them to freely do their illegal business,” he added.
Since the SAF took over guarding the maximum security detention facility at the NBP in 2016, dela Rosa said the drug transaction was reduced by 50 percent.
This is the reason, he said, why SAF commandos were dragged into a controversy last year over allegations they were also corrupted by the drug lords which result in the resurgence of illegal drugs trade.
At one point, some SAF commandos were also accused of stealing television sets and other items inside the NBP.
Right now, dela Rosa said there are still attempts to remove the SAF at the NBP by spreading negative rumors about the SAF commandos.
“I looked into these rumors and found out that all the rumors are not true. They never stopped because they want to go back to their old days again,” dela Rosa said..
20%
The official said that based on their assessment, the drug transaction inside the NBP was further reduced by 30 percent when he assumed the top BuCor post.
“We cannot totally say that there are no more transactions there. We continue to confiscate items inside,” dela Rosa said.
But since the SAF arrived and I assumed the position, I believe there is a remaining 20 percent illegal drugs transaction inside,” he added.
Asked where the drugs are coming from, dela Rosa said they have identified two major sources of illegal drugs entry inside.
First is through visitors and the second one is illegal drugs being hurled toward the NBP from outside the gate.
Condom
When asked to elaborate on how the visitors would sneak drugs inside, dela Rosa cited a case wherein female visitors would insert a condom inside her private part.
That condom, he said, was stuffed with illegal drugs.
“That is true. Our female personnel were able to confiscate drugs using that modus,” dela Rosa said.
He added that visitors are also employing other means and this is the reason why he initiated some measures to intercept not only shabu but also other communication gadgets.
“I also directed for a conduct of intelligence-driven surprise and random inspections inside,” dela Rosa said.
Notorious
The NBP gained notoriety over the continuous transaction of illegal drugs by the convicted drug lords inside.
Police intelligence reports also confirmed that drug lords inside the NBP are key players in drug distribution in the country as they were able to communicate using communication gadgets which were reportedly allowed to be sneaked inside with the help of erring NBP personnel.