Drug detainee surrenders after escaping from NegOr jail

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – A suspected drug peddler surrendered to authorities in Zamboanga del Norte last Saturday, three days after bolting from the custodial facility of Bacong Municipal Police Station in Negros Oriental.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Marcial Yanguas, officer-in-charge of Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (Norppo), presented 34-year-old John Mike Olitres alias “Tata Vendetta” to the members of the media in a press conference on Saturday night.

In a press briefing posted on Norppo’s Facebook page, Yanguas said that Olitres was immediately transported back to Negros Oriental from Barangay Potol, Dapitan City, through the efforts of the 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company, Provincial Intelligence Unit, Bacong Municipal Police Station, and Dapitan City Police Station.

Olitres escaped around 3:30 a.m. on Nov. 16 after the custodial facility was not properly locked.

Police Major Fortunato Villafuerte, Bacong town police chief, said the duty jailer at that time failed to notice Olitres as he was in front of the police station.

Villafuerte said that Olitres was tracked down after he contacted his family.

Olitres was arrested in a buy-bust operation on Oct. 8. He will be transferred to the Provincial Jail.

With the said incident, Villafuerte said that they will strengthen their security measures and the deployment of personnel at the police station.

He said that those responsible for Olitres’s escape will be subjected to a pre-charge investigation.