A high-value individual in the illegal drug trade escaped from his jail escorts while being treated for a stomach ailment at the Eastern Bicol Medical Center last Sunday afternoon.
A report from a reliable source alleged that Jerwin Robles Cruz, 44, who was arrested by a police team two months ago for possession of P3.4 million worth of shabu, gave his two escorts the slip while inside the Emergency Room of the provincial hospital sometime in the afternoon of July 12, 2026.
It is claimed that two personnel from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) Virac District Jail brought the Person Deprived of Liberty (PDL) to the hospital after he complained of a stomach ailment.
With handcuffs removed from his wrists, Cruz and his live-in-partner, Janet Palero Prolles, 43, went inside the ER where he was attended to by the staff.
While a nurse was allegedly explaining something to Prolles, Cruz reportedly asked permission to go to the comfort room to take a leak.
But instead of entering the toilet, the PDL went through the door connecting the ER to the hallway leading to the hospital’s main lobby.
Cruz casually walked past the security guards’ area at the lobby and went out of the main entrance to the front of the hospital where he boarded a tricycle.
It may be recalled that Cruz and Prolles were apprehended at their rented house at Phase 3, West Garden Homes Subdivision in barangay Bigaa on May 11, 2026 during the operation conducted by joint personnel of Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit as the lead unit, Catanduanes Police Intelligence Unit and the Virac Municipal Police Station headed by PCapt. Rhandy R. Rapesora and under the supervision of police chief PMaj. Kenneth Ding C. Gutierrez.
The police report described Cruz, also known as “Boss,” as a native of Las Piñas, Metro Manila and at the time of arrest working as a tricycle driver while engaged in the buy-and-sell of game fowl.
His partner, Prolles, 43, a native of Datag, Caramoran, was also tagged as a High-Value Individual (HVI) by the report.
Armed with a search warrant issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 43, the designated searchers combed the residence for evidence in the presence of the suspects and the required witnesses.
This led to the recovery and confiscation of 91 pieces of heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets containing white crystalline substance believed to be methamphetamine hydrochloride.
The illegal drugs were found inside in plastic bottles of gamefowl vitamins and placed inside a pouch that was hidden near the motor of a refrigerator in the suspects’ living room.
The police also seized a white notebook with written amounts of alleged transactions, along with the initials or aliases of supposed buyers, an empty pack of Chesterfield cigarettes, four pieces of white dextrose power canisters, a yellow notebook, three cigarette lighters, three pieces of rolled aluminum foil and a black Oppo smartphone.
The police estimate that the suspected illegal drugs weigh more or less 500 grams, with an estimated street value of P3.4 million.
Criminal complaints for violation of Section 11, Article II of Republic Act 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, have been filed against the suspects.