A sex, drugs and bribery scandal at the Philippines’ main prison, where a raid uncovered drug lords “living like kings” in luxury cells with stripper bars and jacuzzis, has shocked a country inured to tales of official corruption.
The revelations were headline news yesterday, a day after police commandos swooped on the infamously crowded and corrupt Bilibid Prison complex to verify reports drug rings were operated from behind bars.
Police found methamphetamine or “ice,” 1.4 million pesos (US$31,000) in cash, inflatable sex dolls, a stripper bar and a jacuzzi spread across 20 air-conditioned “villas” built for convicted drug dealers, Philippine Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima said.
Photo: AFP
Police commandoes in full battle armor and tracker dogs swooped down on Bilibid before dawn to verify reports that drug rings were operated from behind bars.
“They are here to serve jail time, but instead, they’re living like kings,” De Lima told reporters after the raid on the prison.
Jail officials who conspired with the inmates face “outright dismissal,” she said.
During Monday’s raid, one “villa” had a fully inflated sex doll sprawled on the bed, while an adjacent room was equipped with an elevated platform, strobe lights and a mirror ball, police said.
Police said the platform was for strippers who were smuggled into the jail compound. A bright blue bra with feathers was hung beside the stage.
Another area had a small concert stage equipped with a flat screen television, a drum set, guitars and keyboards.
A safe in one of the rooms contained Rolex and Patek Philippe watches, Louis Vuitton wallets and stacks of dollar bills, police said.
Bathroom floors and walls were covered in marble tiles, showers with hot water were encased in glass and a bathtub had a flat screen television attached to it.
One room was stocked with an expensive whiskey brand.
Bilibid, on the outskirts of Manila was built for 8,900 inmates, but currently houses 23,000.
The villas, for drugs lords, kidnap gang leaders and other powerful inmates, were scattered around the sprawling 500 hectare compound.
De Lima expressed shock at the outcome of the raid.
However, cases of rich inmates bribing prison authorities and building small houses or simply leaving the jail, have emerged publicly repeatedly over the years.
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