‘Sand, gravel delivery’ hid booze, cigs at penal farm
Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. immediately relieved a camp commander and another commissioned officer following an attempt to smuggle a significant amount of alcohol and tobacco into the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Occidental Mindoro.
The items, consisting of almost 300 bottles of gin and whiskey and at least 69 reams of cigarettes, were found embedded in a pile of sand and gravel being delivered on a dump truck to the BuCor facility.
In a statement on Thursday, BuCor announced the relief of Corrections Chief Insp. Francisco Madrid, the camp commander, and Corrections Technical Inspector Edgar Laudencia.
Signed permit
The two officers were transferred to the Directorate for Personnel and Human Resource Development at the National Headquarters in Muntinlupa City for further investigation.
Based on a report submitted to Catapang by the SPPF acting superintendent, Corrections Chief Insp. Abel Ciruela, the smuggling attempt was made using a dump truck that was spotted and checked outside the perimeter of the SPPF Hospital.
Upon questioning, the driver, identified as Rob Antaran, presented a permit signed by Madrid supposedly allowing him to deliver the construction materials to the facility.
Confession
However, when instructed to proceed to the designated unloading area, Antaran refused to do so, claiming a malfunction in the truck’s hydraulic system.
Antaran’s persistent refusal prompted security personnel to question him further at the visitors’ area, where he later confessed that the gravel and sand merely served as cover for the contraband.
Catapang ordered a thorough investigation to determine if other SPPF personnel were involved in smuggling, and required all superintendents in BuCor facilities nationwide to review their protocols for deliveries and vehicle checks.
