13 drug detainees escape from Pampanga jail

February 26, 2017

Thirteen inmates escaped from a detention facility in Camp Olivas, Pampanga early Sunday, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

PDEA-Central Luzon Director Juvenal Azurin said in an interview by ANC television network the 13 male inmates, who are facing drug-related cases, bolted from the jail at around 1:30 in the morning.

Azurin said those escapees were considered as high-valued targets and facing non-bailable cases.

“They are non-bailable because they were caught in buy-bust operations, their cases are mainly selling or (violation of) Section 5 of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002),” he said.

He said investigators were also looking into the possibility of an inside job or  whether their personnel or people from outside connived with the escapees.

"Those who are involved, or personnel with security lapses, will be dealt accordingly if we found out that they indeed are responsible on the jailbreak of the detainees," he added.

Anti-narcotics agents, including the policemen, have been dispatched in different places to recapture the escapees. Ella Dionisio/DMS