4 detainees killed in drug raid at Davao City Jail
Credit to Author: Alexander Magno| Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2019 17:16:56 +0000
DAVAO CITY — Four inmates were killed, while a jail official tested positive for drug use, following a raid at the Davao City Jail early Saturday, police said.
Three police officers were also wounded after an anti-drug sweep inside the jail degenerated into chaos, with inmates armed with a homemade gun and bladed weapons attacking officers.
The Davao City Police Office identified the fatalities as Alvin Celis, Dexter Delfino, Flor Leonard Resturo and Jerry Fernandez.
Wounded were PO2 Jonie de la Fuente, PO 1 Vincent Lomoljo, and PO1 Ramon Rey Uyanguren.
About 1,000 police officers, soldiers, and agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) carried out Operation Greyhound which started around 3 a.m., with enforcers conducting searches and subjecting inmates and jail personnel to random drug testing.
Chief Insp. Roman Hernandez, BJMP Davao del Sur provincial administrator, and nine detainees allegedly tested positive for drugs following a surprise random test.
The bloody incident happened as inmates of Cell No. 18 of the annex building were herded out one by one for a body search and random drug testing at around 10:30 a.m.
The four allegedly refused to come out and one of them pulled out a homemade gun and fired at PO3 Mark Anthony Cameros, who was hit on the chest part of his bulletproof vest.
Cameros fired back at his attacker, and as other officers tried to restrain the others, the remaining detainees lunged at the cops with bladed weapons, prompting the officers to shoot and immobilize them.
The wounded were rushed to the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), but the detainees died while undergoing treatment.
Recovered at Cell No. 18 were two big sachets of suspected shabu (crystal meth) worth P160,000, several drug paraphernalia, and some deadly weapons.
An investigation into the incident and how illegal drugs and weapons were able to sneak into the facility was underway, police said. /atm