NegOcc jails step up efforts vs contraband items

FILE: (PNA photo)

BACOLOD CITY — The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Negros Occidental has intensified the campaign against contraband items inside the jail facilities.

At the Negros Occidental District Jail (NODJ) in Bago City, the greyhound operation conducted Wednesday yielded various items, including improvised knives, mobile phones, and cigarettes.

Chief Inspector Castle Masip, jail warden of NODJ, said they regularly conduct  greyhound operation to ensure that no contraband, particularly illegal drugs and weapons, remain inside the jail facility.

This is necessary in maintaining peace and order inside the jail, he added.

Masip added that although they  are not the proper authority to declare that NODJ is 100 percent drug-free, the management has  worked “tirelessly to fight illegal drugs inside the jail.”

“We will not stop until the very tiny speck of illicit drugs shall be erased and terminated in this facility,” he further said.

Aside from the NODJ, seven other jails in Negros Occidental conducted similar  operations on the same day.

These include the Metro Bacolod District Jail (MBDJ)-Male and Female Dormitories in Barangay Handumanan  and MBDJ-Special Intensive Care Area (SICA) in Barangay Taculing in Bacolod City as well as the  Talisay City Jail, Victorias City Jail,  Cadiz City Jail and San Carlos City District Jail.

For his part, Senior Inspector Larry Fuentes, jail warden of MBDJ-SICA, which houses 716 inmates, said  this time, they did not  recover hard drugs which he considers a  positive development.

It is a result of the strict implementation of  safety measures, he added.

The simultaneous conduct of  greyhound operations was part of the  BJMP’s Oplan Linis Piitan which aims to clear every jail facility from any contraband items, particularly prohibited drugs.

(PNA)