Leyte gov’t mulls separate probe of narco mayor’s shooting

BAYBAY CITY, Leyte, Nov. 6 (PNA) -- The provincial government here is pushing for a separate thorough investigation on the shooting of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Sr. inside the Leyte sub provincial jail early Saturday.

Leyte provincial administrator Edgardo Cordeño said the local government, which supervises the detention facility, found out in an inspection last week that there are no illegal drugs and firearms kept by inmates.

This is contrary to the report of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) that illegal drugs and firearms were found inside the prison facility.

“We had an inspection at the jail a week ago and did not discover any illegal contraband inside,” Cordeño told reporters.

The official wondered why the CIDG raided the facility without informing them first. The team entered the jail 4:00 a.m. or seven hours before the provincial government received the copy of search warrant.

The closed circuit television’s digital video recorder got lost after the incident. What was left is the monitor.

The mayor and another inmate, Raul Yap were killed when they reportedly “fired upon the raiding team” led by Chief Insp. Leo Laraga.

Judge Tarcelo A. Sabarre, Jr., presiding of Regional Trial Court branch 30 in Basey, Samar issued the search warrant, believing that the two detainees keep firearms and illegal drugs at their cells.

A police report stated that the raiding team recovered a sachet of suspected shabu and paraphernalias from Espinosa.

The team also found 15 sachets of suspected shabu, 27 sachets of suspected dried marijuana, repacking items, and drug paraphernalia from Yap.

The sub provincial jail has eight cells with a capacity to house 15 inmates each. Currently, the facility has only 44 prisoners.

Espinosa occupied cell number 1 alone while Yap, with other inmates stay in a separate cell.

The mayor has been detained at the Leyte sub-provincial jail in this city after his arrest on Oct. 5 for illegal drugs and firearms charges. The mayor is the father of Kerwin Espinosa, allegedly the region’s top drug lord. The son was arrested earlier in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (PNA)

BNB/SQM/ELVIE R. ROA/EGR