Law enforcers raided Thursday the Abuyog penal colony in Leyte after it was identified as a possible source of illegal drugs for suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa.

Supt. Noel Matira said one inmate, Edgar Allen Alvarez, was killed during the raid after he tried to fight operatives of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Leyte Police Provincial Office.

Initial information revealed authorities found guns and a pack of marijuana where Alvarez was detained.

PNP Chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa earlier said suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa gets his supply of illegal drugs from a Chinese convict at the Abuyog Penal Colony.

The information came from Espinosa's father, Albuera (Leyte) Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., who surrendered to the police last week.

'Bato' to mayor's son: Surrender or die

Jail Superintendent Geraldo Aro, however, denied the allegations, adding that there is no Chinese drug convict currently detained at the facility.

He, however, said that Peter Co, who was also identified as one of the younger Espinosa's drug sources, was detained in Abuyog from 2003 to 2007, before he was transferred to the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

Aro said he will take full responsibility if a drug laboratory is found inside the facility.

No drug facility in Leyte prison, says chief