Intelligence officers have started anew to look into allegations that transactions for the bulk delivery of illegal drugs to Bohol are being conducted inside prisons, the chief of the Dauis Police Station said on Monday following the seizure of shabu worth P22 million in the town last week.
In a press briefing, Dauis police chief Lt. Thomas Zen Cheung said they are not discounting the possibility that the illegal drug trade in the province is controlled by inmates serving time in one of the country’s prisons.
“Mag intelligence workshop pa mi kauban ang PIU [Provincial Intelligence Unit] and other operating units kay kani na information considered ni siya so wala nato gi discount na naay posibilidad naay ga control sulod sa prisohan as per the allegations sa atong mga suspects,” said Chueng.
Cheung said information gathered from arrested drug personalities would undergo validation before these are forwarded to concerned national agencies.
Earlier, there had been reports of drug transactions being controlled by inmates from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, Albuyog Penal Colony in Leyte and even the Bohol District Jail.
However, police have also previously launched probes into the allegations but none have been confirmed.
Sherwin Aranas, who was caught in possession of 3 kilos of shabu, one of the largest single-operation drug hauls in recent years, in Dauis claimed that he sourced his supply from a certain “Kuya.”
Cheung noted the possibility that Aranas and another suspect who was previously caught in possession of shabu worth P13 million in Panglao sourced their supply from the same person who police have yet to identify.
According to Cheung, drug supply in Bohol are being shipped from other localities through small boats that dock in secluded areas of the island-province’s long coastline.
“Ang Bohol isla man gud and as per validation namo naay mga gagmay na barko ug mga banca na mo dunggo dili sa mga ports,” the municipal police chief said.
Cheung, who was previously the spokesperson of the Bohol Police Provincial Office, said they will continue to work in coordination with other police divisions such as the Provincial Intelligence Unit to track down the source of illegal drugs in the province. (A. Doydora)