Customs chief orders intensified drive vs illegal drug shipments

They shall not pass — through our ports, that is.

Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales ordered all offices of his bureau yesterday to intensify their campaign against illegal drug syndicates that may try to use the country’s 15 international ports to smuggle in their drug shipments.

In an order addressed to all district collectors, Morales said the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is mandated to help put a stop to the modus operandi of illegal drug syndicates of smuggling narcotics and chemical precursors in through dummy shipments.

"Our goal is not limited to meeting our target collection because the bureau is also a crucial agency in the campaign against illegal drugs," he said. "(Illegal) drug syndicates from abroad have been trying to smuggle their illegal merchandise here and we can’t just let them pass."

Morales stressed that he would be taking action to boost the BOC’s campaign against illegal drugs, including the reconstitution of the bureau’s anti-narcotics teams with K-9 units.

He also vowed to revitalize all ship and aircraft boarding teams and initiate closer coordination with international anti-narcotics agencies.

Morales also said he is lobbying for the acquisition of two watercraft, closed-circuit TV (CCTV) controllers, service vehicles, firearms and radio communication equipment for his agency.

He added that the BoC is also improving its computer database, which will be used in the BoC effort to stop the smuggling of illegal drugs and raw materials for illegal narcotics into the country.

Under the provisions of Republic Act 9165, anyone caught manufacturing or disseminating illegal drugs, including methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, and similar substances, faces harsh penalties, including death by lethal injection.

The new Customs chief said his bureau must remain vigilant against shipments of illegal drugs even if it only has 525 BOC personnel deployed to the country’s ports.

He said the BoC is capable of scanning all containers, baggage and cargo in seaports and international airports using regular X-ray scanners.

The Customs Task Group on Dangerous Drugs and Controlled Chemicals (CTGDDCC) has been tasked as the BOC’s lead unit in the anti-drug campaign and is in charge of identifying personalities and dummy companies involved in the smuggling of illegal drugs into the country.

Besides this unit the BOC, as a whole, has been monitoring the importation of drugs, chemical precursors and other essential chemicals used in manufacturing illicit narcotics, Morales said.

He said BoC agents are also determining possible links between these shipments and local underground drug laboratories that manufacture illegal drugs in the country using smuggled raw materials.

He said Customs needs more field test kits and other equipment used to detect the presence of drugs, and other chemicals used in manufacturing illegal drugs.