7 drug suspects bolt PDEA jail

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Seven suspected drug traffickers escaped from the detention cell of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in this city at dawn yesterday.

Three of the fugitives were arrested in an anti-narcotics operation in Barangay Mampang last week, which resulted in the seizure of shabu worth P146 million.

The jailbreak was discovered at around 2:45 a.m. by PDEA jail guard Norbert Mendola during a routine inspection at the PDEA Zamboanga City Field Office in Barangay Calarian.

Mendola found a hole on the ceiling of the detention facility.

The PDEA field office refused to provide additional details so as not to compromise operations it launched in coordination with the local police for the recapture of the escapees.

The fugitives are facing charges of large-scale drug trafficking. They were identified as Kerwin Mohammad Abdila, Amil Khan Mahadali Abubasar, Junjimar Hajili Aiyob, Albadir Mala Ajijul, Muhajiran Romeo Jumlah, Wilson Indanan Sahiban and Jimmy Angeles Sahibol.