AN INMATE of the Cagayan de Oro City Jail in the village of Lumbia was found trying to smuggle contraband items inside the detention facility after coming back from a court hearing on Monday afternoon, December 5.
Jail warden Superintendent Ferdinand Pontillo identified the inmate as Jeovan Nafarrete, 25, charged with violation of the Section 5 (selling) and Section 11 (possession) of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Pontillo said the jail guards were doing the regular inspection for inmates returning from court hearings when two packs of cigarettes, a cellphone and three sachets of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” were confiscated from Nafarrete's possession.
Jail guards discovered the contraband inside Nafarrete’s cycling shorts and the three sachets of suspected “shabu” were seen inside of one of the cigarette packs.
rPontillo said the inmate might have obtained the contraband on his way back from the court hearing.
"Posible nga samtang gabaklay naay nakatunol or mismo didto sa lugar sa hearing (It’s possible that someone handed him the contraband while he was walking or in the hearing venue)," Pontillo said.
The city jail chief said inmates bringing prohibited items from court hearings happened many times.
Pontillo said only 12-15 jail personnel are escorting about 80-90 inmates daily for the court hearings.
"Ma-mix naman gud sila sa public medyo lisod mamonitor kinsa gaduol sa ila. Dili lang ni once pero kasagaran sigarilyo and cellphone lang karon naa na (They are mixed with the public making it hard to monitor them. This didn’t happen once. Commonly it’s cellphones and cigarette and now there’s)suspected ‘shabu,’ " Pontillo said.
The seized items were brought to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency laboratory for testing.
Pontillo said the inmate caught for possessing prohibited items will likely be charged with possession of illegal drugs.
"Posible madugangan ang iyang kaso (It’s possible that he’d face additional charges)," Pontillo said.
Nafarrete has been detained in Cagayan de Oro City Jail since June this year.
