Inmates defy guards in Manila jail raid

MANILA, Philippines – Inmates at the Manila City Jail refused to allow law enforcers to enter their cells during a raid yesterday morning.

Acting on information that the overcrowded jail was a “virtual weapons factory” and “where illegal drugs are plenty,” members of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the local police’s Special Weapons and Tactics unit staged a raid – under Task Force Galugad’s Operation Greyhound – of the inmates’ cells and found dozens of improvised weapons and sachets of shabu.

The inmates, all members of the Batang City Jail (BCJ) gang, barred the entrance to their dormitory. They insisted that the raiding team observe “jail protocol.”

Members of the raiding team had to negotiate before they were allowed to inspect the cells.

Chief Superintendent Michael Vidamo, BJMP-National Capital Region director, said the inmates may have used the standoff as a delaying tactic to hide the contraband, ABS-CBN reported.

The raiding team also found the cell of alleged drug lord Zhang Shu, which resembles a five-star hotel room – with its own toilet.

They found bundles of money, shabu paraphernalia, mobile phones, jewelry, a king-size bed, an aquarium, a flat-screen television, an air-conditioner, a karaoke machine, an office table and a blue book purportedly listing transactions.

Vidamo said Zhang was arrested for possession of illegal drugs along Banawe street in Quezon City in 2012.

He said there are at least 3,476 detainees in the jail, which has only 169 guards.

Condoms, marijuana seized in QC jail

Meanwhile, drug paraphernalia, condoms and suspected marijuana leaves were seized from the cells of the BCJ gang in the Quezon City Jail, ABS-CBN reported.

The raiding team also confiscated SIM cards, cash, condoms, pieces of aluminum foil, an improvised saw and flat-screen television sets from the cells of the Batang Commando gang.

The Quezon City Jail, built for 600 inmates, now houses at least 3,500 detainees.