7 men who "smuggled" shabu into jail charged

CEBU - Prosecutors yesterday elevated to court drug charges against the seven men arrested last January 16 for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs and other contraband into the Cebu City Jail.

Charged for drug possession were Christopher Sacristan, Juan Villeno, Jovencio Baydal, Jerome Villeno, Gerald Villeno, Steve Villeno and Edward Jeson.

The seven were caught with 22 decks of shabu, 12 strips of tinfoil, several boxes of cigarettes, 10 boxes of lighters, three boxes of playing cards, eight mobile phones with batteries and chargers, as well as a bolo and a dagger.

The confiscated items were packed in plastic and then duct-taped to the baffles that form part of the sound system the inmates hired in a disco the jail warden authorized as part of their own celebration of the Sinulog Festival.

In his counter affidavit, Juan Villeno denied possessing the seized items, saying they were not confiscated directly from him. He argued that he was only the driver of the vehicle used to transport the sound system and that his companions were the ones designated as operator, disc jockey and set-up crew.

Villeno said it was his sister Carmelita Barricar, the owner of Nikkolight FX, a light and sound system rental company, who instructed him to borrow the Isuzu Elf of one Cloeh Cardenas to be used to transport the sound system to the city jail.

In a separate affidavit, Baydal said he only went with the other respondent to the city jail because he wanted to visit his cousin who is detained there. He also denied being an operator of the sound system. – Jasmin R. Uy/JMO (THE FREEMAN)