Kerwin Espinosa denies planning to escape NBI jail

Confessed drug dealer Kerwin Espinosa denied allegations that he tried to escape his detention at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) jail.

According to a report on “24 Oras”, Espinosa said his cell was different from the the one where a hole in the ceiling was found.

NBI officer in charge Eric Distor earlier said that the agency received information that Espinosa and two others were planning to escape through a hole of the exhaust fan at the ceiling on January 13.

The NBI authorities immediately inspected the jail.

It was later found a deformed exhaust fan in one of the cells, which exposed a hole big enough for a detainee to escape.

Distor said security measures have been tightened in all jail facilities.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Espinosa must be transferred to another prison facility.

Last December 2021, the Makati Regional Trial Court dismissed the case against Espinosa, and others for the failure of the prosecution to cite evidence to overturn their presumption of innocence.

In a 13 page-decision, the Makati RTC Branch 64 granted the demurrer to evidence filed by Espinosa, Lovely Impal, Wu Tuan Yuan as well as the motion to dismiss the demurrer to evidence filed by Marcelo Adorco.

This is regarding the conspiracy that the Espinosa group agreed to commit illegal trading or trafficking of dangerous drugs.

The DOJ in August 2021 indicted Espinosa and other individuals over the illegal drug trade in Eastern Visayas.

He is the son of the late former Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa, whom President Rodrigo Duterte early in his term tagged in the illegal drug trade. —Richa Alyssa Noriega/NB, GMA News