PHILSTAR EDITORIAL: GOING
GLOBAL
MANILA, MARCH 17, 2012 (PHILSTAR) Filipinos are caught trying to
smuggle heroin into China, while in the Philippines, authorities are
apprehending drug mules who arrive in Manila all the way from Africa.
The illegal drug trade, one of the most lucrative activities in
the world, is fully globalized, and posing greater challenges to law enforcement
authorities.
Within less than a month, NAIA authorities have apprehended five Africans
with kilos of shabu in their luggage. On Feb. 27, Lina Aching Noah of Kenya was
caught with 9.3 kilos of shabu or methamphe-tamine hydrochloride.
On March 3, Josephine Balikuddembe of Uganda was nabbed with 4.5 kilos of
shabu. On March 11, a woman from Guinea who flew in from Abu Dhabi was held at
the NAIA.
Six months pregnant, Aisha Camara started bleeding the next day and needed
hospitalization. When her luggage was inspected, it yielded 2.7 kilos of shabu
concealed in the bottom. On March 13, Kenyan couple Joseph Kyeremateng and
Solemana Ham-shaww were also caught with shabu in their luggage.
What did the Africans intend to do with the drugs in the Philippines?
Authorities hope to find out with the arrest in Mandaluyong last Wednesday of a
resident of Zamboanga City. Nabral Abdulah Mansul is suspected of being the
Filipino contact of the Africans.
For the Philippines, the drug problem is compounded by the employment of
nearly 10 million Filipinos all over the world, many of them vulnerable to the
lure of making a fast buck for working on the side as drug mules.
Within the Philippines, corrupt personnel at ports of entry make the country
a popular transshipment point for illegal drugs and other types of contraband.
Despite repeated raids, shabu laboratories continue to proliferate in the
country, with the operators widely believed to be protected by anti-narcotics
agents themselves. Raids on shabu laboratories rarely lead to the arrest of the
principal operators and financiers.
The suspected couriers from Africa at least were apprehended. Authorities
should coordinate with their counterparts in other countries to bust the crime
rings that employed the mules. Those crime rings could also be employing
Filipinos, and sending them to their deaths in countries where drug trafficking
is a capital offense.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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