President joins 1000 cops in jail raids

OVER 1,000 POLICE   and members of the newly  formed  “Eagle” anti crime unit, led by National Police Director, Omar Pinzon and accompanied by President Juan Carlos Varela, descended on La Joya  and la Joyita prisons on Wednesday Apr.5 to conduct a search that  ended at 1 a.m. the next day.

The  day long raid followed the appearance on social networks of a video showing partying prisoners with guns and drugs.

At least three 9 mm  pistols and a supply of drugs, were found

Varela, who spoke face to face with prisoners, said that he was sending a  clear message to the country that “we are going to put order in prisons,”

He said  that he asked the director of the National Police, Omar Pinzón, that the case  be sent to the Public Ministry. “ It is not possible that every three or six months, weapons are found in prisons and they do not know how they enter, so it is necessary to carry out an investigation.”

The detainees found with weapons will be punished, Varela said, along with  those identified as allowing  them to enter.

The exact date of filming is not known, but the men in the video, were identified as belonging to different gangs.

The president described the images as “unacceptable,”