Police report no drugs were recovered
By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Officials from the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO) and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) conducted a prison shakedown or “Greyhound operation” last Sunday at the Negros Occidental District Jail (NODJ). NOPPO director, Police Colonel Romeo Baleros, said the operation sought to prove allegations made by a recently-arrested drug suspect who claimed his drug supply originated from the district jail.
During the search, authorities recovered television sets, DVD players, mobile phones, portable lighters, along shanks and other bladed weapons, but no illegal drugs.
Baleros said the seized phones will be examined and recommended jail officials ban portable lighters from prison premises as they could be used in order to sniff illegal drugs such as shabu.
Jail warden, Jail Senior Inspector Norberto Meciano, meanwhile, said they have since adopted more strict entry policies for visitors.
Last month, Negros Occidental Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer confirmed an inmate inside the district jail had been using the facility as a “command center” for illegal drug operations.
“We discussed certain measures that will be implemented at NODJ but it is classified so I cannot reveal it in public,” he said.
Ferrer noted, while he does not know which drug syndicate the inmate in question is connected to, he confirmed the individual has “wide machinery” and is linked to a “Chinese drug syndicate.”
He added, there is an ongoing investigation.
The issue stemmed from the seizure of P7.3 million worth of suspected shabu along South Capitol Road in Bacolod City. Police Lieutenant Thurslie Castillo, head of the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit-Negros Occidental (RDEU-Negros Occidental), said the suspect, Ronaldo Roquero, Jr. of Talisay City, can be considered a provincial-level high-value target because of the volume of drugs recovered.
Roquero told police the seized items were sourced from Manila and he was tasked to distribute across the province by two district jail inmates.
The RDEU official added, Roquero linked suspected drug lord Michael Divinagracia to their illegal drug transactions but did not elaborate on his role./DGB, WDJ