THE government is moving some 200 high-value drug targets from the national Bilibid Prison to a new “maximum security” facility within the country to cut off their communication and access outside the prison as part of the Marcos administration’s efforts to intensify its campaign against illegal drugs.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla, in a briefing in Malacanang yesterday, said the President on Monday afternoon met with him, along with officials from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and PNP to discuss the “new strategy” in the fight against illegal drugs.
Remulla said the new strategy involves cutting off the drug supply and going after the “big guns” in the illegal drug trade involving some inmates. He said the other “big guns” are abroad.
He said the President had raised the issue of the presence of high-value detainees in Muntinlupa who continue to engage in the illegal drug trade from prison.
“For the longest time, we have been concentrating on the consumption side, arresting them on street levels, arresting them on crimes they committed on the buy-bust. This time, we are going heavy on the supply side, chasing after the big guns, the big suppliers, the main men involved in the importation of drugs,” Remulla said.
He said the meeting was called amid a trend in the arrest of small-time drug peddlers in the country.
Remulla said during the meeting, it was pointed out that the drug trade has become more sophisticated, including using cryptocurrencies to hide proceeds from the drug sales.
He said some 200 detained drug traders continue to engage in illegal activity, making it urgent to cut off their communication outside of prison.
He said the government has identified those who are possibly involved in the large-scale drug trade within the Muntinlupa jail, including some jail guards and their supervisors, and is already investigating them.
Remulla declined to identify anyone pending the probe.
He said they would also make public the details of the new maximum-security facility once the inmates had been transferred.
He said new people, or those not connected with the new Bilibid Prison, would operate the new facility.
He said the “operations” of the new facility would start soon.
